Trillium sulcatum

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Trillium sulcatum
Trillium sulcatum.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Tribe: Parideae
Genus: Trillium
Species:
T. sulcatum
Binomial name
Trillium sulcatum
T.S.Patrick [2]
Synonyms [3]
T. sulcatum
    • Trillium erectum var. sulcatumBarksd.
    • Trillium sulcatum f. albolutescensT.S.Patrick

Trillium sulcatum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. [3] It is a member of the Erectum group, a group of species typified by Trillium erectum. The specific name sulcatum means "furrowed, grooved, or sulcate", [4] which describes the tips of the sepals. It is most abundant on the Cumberland Plateau in central Tennessee and eastern Kentucky where it blooms in April and May. The species is commonly known as the southern red trillium or furrowed wakerobin. [5] [6]

Contents

Description

Trillium sulcatum is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant that persists by means of an underground rhizome. Like all trilliums, it has a whorl of three bracts (leaves) and a single trimerous flower with three sepals, three petals, two whorls of three stamens each, and three carpels (fused into a single ovary with three stigmas). [7] The flower sits atop a long stalk (called a pedicel) rising above the leaves. The recurved (bent backwards) petals are usually dark red but an occasional white form may be found. The berry is also red. [8] [5]

Trillium sulcatum is often confused with other members of the Trillium erectum group, including Trillium flexipes, Trillium simile, Trillium vaseyi, and especially Trillium erectum. In general, it is distinguished by the relative length of its pedicel. Specifically, the sepals of Trillium sulcatum are less than half as long as the pedicel, whereas they are more than half as long in other members of the group. [9]

Taxonomy

Trillium sulcatum was described and named by Thomas Stewart Patrick in 1984. [2] Its type specimen was collected in Grundy County, Tennessee in 1980. [10] As of March 2023, the name Trillium sulcatumT.S.Patrick is widely recognized. [3] [5] [11] The species is a member of the Erectum group, a group of species typified by Trillium erectum. [12]

Related to this, Lane Barksdale described Trillium erectum var. sulcatum in 1938, [13] but since he did not provide a Latin description, [14] the name is invalid. However, the variety's type specimen, collected in Surry County, North Carolina in 1937, was subsequently identified as Trillium sulcatum, and so the epithet sulcatum was retained in recognition of Barksdale's contribution. [15] Consequently, Trillium sulcatum is often referred to as the Barksdale trillium. [5] [16]

Distribution and habitat

Trillium sulcatum is most abundant on the Cumberland Plateau, from northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia northward through central Tennessee into eastern Kentucky. From Tennessee its range extends northeastward into Virginia and, via the New River drainage, into both West Virginia and North Carolina. [17] [18] Unlike other members of the Trillium erectum complex, it is notably absent from the Great Smoky Mountains and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. [5] [19]

Trillium sulcatum is known to occur in the following counties: [20] [21]

Conservation

NatureServe considers the global conservation status of Trillium sulcatum to be apparently secure (G4). At the southern edge of its range, it is imperiled (S2) in Georgia and critically imperiled (S1) in Alabama. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Trillium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Trillium is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. Trillium species are native to temperate regions of North America and Asia, with the greatest diversity of species found in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.

<i>Trillium erectum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium erectum, the red trillium, also known as wake robin, purple trillium, bethroot, or stinking benjamin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. The plant takes its common name "wake robin" by analogy with the European robin, which has a red breast heralding spring. Likewise Trillium erectum is a spring ephemeral plant whose life-cycle is synchronized with that of the forests in which it lives. It is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada from northern Georgia to Quebec and New Brunswick.

<i>Trillium grandiflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium grandiflorum, the white trillium, large-flowered trillium, great white trillium, white wake-robin or French: trille blanc, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. A monocotyledonous, herbaceous perennial, the plant is native to eastern North America, from northern Quebec to the southern parts of the United States through the Appalachian Mountains into northernmost Georgia and west to Minnesota. There are also several isolated populations in Nova Scotia, Maine, southern Illinois, and Iowa.

<i>Pseudotrillium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Pseudotrillium is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. Its sole species, Pseudotrillium rivale, is commonly known as the brook wakerobin. It is endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California. The Latin specific epithet rivale means “growing by streams”, with reference to a preferred habitat.

<i>Trillium ovatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium ovatum, the Pacific trillium, also known as the western wakerobin, western white trillium, or western trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is the most widespread and abundant trillium in western North America. Its type specimen was gathered by Meriwether Lewis during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806.

<i>Trillium luteum</i> Species of plant

Trillium luteum, the yellow trillium or yellow wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, especially in and around the Great Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

<i>Trillium flexipes</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium flexipes, known as the nodding wakerobin, bent trillium, or drooping trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found from Minnesota to Ohio, south to Tennessee, with isolated populations in New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and other states. It is an endangered species in Ontario and threatened in North Carolina.

<i>Trillium undulatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium undulatum, commonly called painted trillium, painted lady, or trille ondulé in French, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is also known as smiling wake robin or striped wake-robin. The specific epithet undulatum means "wavy", which refers to the wavy edges of the flower petals. The plant is found from Ontario in the north to northern Georgia in the south and from Michigan in the west to Nova Scotia in the east.

<i>Trillium cuneatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cuneatum, the little sweet betsy, also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a subgroup of the sessile-flowered trilliums. It is native to the southeastern United States but is especially common in a region that extends from southern Kentucky through central Tennessee to northern Alabama. In its native habitat, this perennial plant flowers from early March to late April. It is the largest of the eastern sessile-flowered trilliums.

<i>Trillium sessile</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium sessile is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet sessile means "attached without a distinct stalk", an apparent reference to its stalkless flower. It is commonly known as toadshade or toad trillium. It is also called sessile trillium or sessile-flowered wake-robin, however it is not the only member of the genus with a sessile flower.

<i>Trillium decipiens</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium decipiens, also known as Chattahoochee River wakerobin or deceiving trillium, is a spring-flowering perennial plant. It occurs mostly near the Chattahoochee River in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Scattered populations are found elsewhere in these three states, all within the Atlantic Coastal Plain or Gulf Coastal Plain. Rich deciduous woods of bluffs, ravines, and alluvial land provide its most favored habitat.

<i>Trillium cernuum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cernuum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet cernuum means "drooping, curving forwards, facing downwards", a distinctive habit of its flower. It is commonly called nodding trillium or nodding wakerobin since the flower is invariably found nodding beneath the leaves. It is sometimes referred to as the northern nodding trillium to distinguish from Trillium rugelii, a similar nodding species native to the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is also called the whip-poor-will flower since presumably its bloom coincides with the spring arrival of the migrating bird with the same name.

<i>Trillium lancifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium lancifolium, the lanceleaf wakerobin, lance-leaved trillium, or narrow-leaved trillium, is a species of plants native to the southeastern United States. It is known to occur in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The species is imperiled in Alabama and Florida, and critically imperiled in South Carolina and Tennessee.

<i>Trillium decumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium decumbens, also known as the decumbent trillium or trailing wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae). It is native to the southeastern United States, specifically Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, where it grows in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes.

<i>Trillium pusillum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium pusillum is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae known by the common names dwarf trillium, least trillium and dwarf wakerobin. It is native to the southeastern and south-central United States from Oklahoma to Maryland.

<i>Trillium angustipetalum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium angustipetalum, with the common name is narrowpetal wakerobin, is a species of Trillium, plants which may be included within the Liliaceae or the newer family Melanthiaceae.

<i>Trillium maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium maculatum, the spotted wakerobin or spotted trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, ranging across Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and northern Florida.

<i>Trillium ludovicianum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium ludovicianum, the Louisiana wakerobin or Louisiana trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found only in the south-central United States, in Louisiana, Mississippi, and eastern Texas.

Trillium tennesseense, the Tennessee trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found exclusively within two counties in northeastern Tennessee. Due to its limited range, it is designated as a critically imperiled species.

<i>Trillium hibbersonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium hibbersonii is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet hibbersonii honors the English Canadian surveyor John Arthur Hibberson (1881–1955) who first collected this plant in 1938 on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Hibberson and his son propagated the trilliums, selling them to buyers in England and other European countries. In 1968, Leonard Wiley coined the Latin name Trillium hibbersonii, a name that has since been used by horticulturists without reservation.

References

  1. 1 2 NatureServe (November 1, 2024). "Trillium sulcatum". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Trillium sulcatumT.S.Patrick". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Trillium sulcatumT.S.Patrick". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 367. ISBN   978-0-521-86645-3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium sulcatum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 March 2023 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Trillium sulcatum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 March 2023 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  8. Patrick (1984).
  9. Patrick (1984), p. 32.
  10. Patrick (1984), p. 27.
  11. "Trillium sulcatumT.S.Patrick". Flora of the Southeastern United States (2022 Edition). Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  12. Lampley et al. (2022), p. 280.
  13. "Trillium erectum var. sulcatumBarksd.". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  14. Barksdale (1938), pp. 280–281.
  15. Patrick (1984), p. 30.
  16. Case & Case (1997), p. 144.
  17. Patrick (1984), p. 33.
  18. "Trillium sulcatum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. Case & Case (1997), p. 146.
  20. Patrick (1984), pp. 27–30.
  21. "Virginia Botanical Associates". Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora. Virginia Botanical Associates, Blacksburg, VA. Retrieved 7 May 2024.

Bibliography