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.
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.
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.
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.
Trillium rugelii is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is endemic to the southeastern United States. Its white flower is typically found nodding beneath the leaves, hence it is known as the southern nodding trillium. The specific epithet rugelii honors Ferdinand Rugel, a botanist and plant collector who collected plant specimens throughout the southeastern U.S. during the period 1840–1848. Although the species is apparently secure across its range, statewide it is vulnerable at best.
Trillium simile, the jeweled wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is endemic to the southeastern United States. It is also known as sweet white wake-robin, sweet white trillium and confusing trillium.
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.
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.
Trillium stamineum, the twisted trillium, also known as the Blue Ridge wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Its natural habitat is calcareous woodlands.
Trillium sulcatum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. 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", 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.
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.
Rhododendron vaseyi, the pinkshell azalea, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is endemic to the Appalachian highlands of North Carolina. The specific epithet vaseyi honors the American plant collector George Richard Vasey and his father Dr. George Vasey, Chief Botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture from 1872 to 1893. The species is sometimes referred to as the Vasey Rhododendron.
Trillium crassifolium, the Wenatchee Mountains trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It was previously thought to be endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains in Washington but recent findings suggest its range extends into Oregon and Idaho as well.
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.
Hymenoxys vaseyi is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is native to the Southwestern United States. The specific epithet vaseyi honors the American plant collector George Richard Vasey, not to be confused with his father George S. Vasey. The species is commonly called Vasey's rubberweed.
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.
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.
Trillium scouleri is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae.
Trillium georgianum, the Georgia dwarf trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is one of the rarest, and perhaps most threatened species in the Trillium pusillum species complex. It is the sole representative of the complex in the U.S. state of Georgia.
George Richard Vasey (1853–1921) was an American plant collector who collected in at least eight U.S. states including California, North Carolina, and Washington. He was the son of Dr. George S. Vasey, a physician and botanist. The botanical activities of father and son overlapped in time, so the two men are often confused.
