Trillium recurvatum

L. C. Beck

Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. 1826.

Common names: Prairie trillium toadshade bloody noses
IllustratedEndemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 26. Treatment on page 114. Mentioned on page 91, 94, 115.

Rhizomes horizontal, white, slender, elongated, brittle. Scapes typically 1(–3), round in cross section, 1.5–4.8 dm, slender to robust, glabrous. Bracts held well above ground, strongly petiolate; blade at first strongly mottled in darker green or bronze, mottling fading with seasonal expansion after anthesis, rarely all green, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 6–18 × 2.5–6.5 cm, not glossy, apex acuminate; petiole ca. 1/5 bract length. Flower erect, fragrance not reported; sepals strongly recurved basally and held against scape by turgor pressure, green, sometimes purple-streaked, ovate-lanceolate, 18–35 × 6–18 mm, margins entire, apex acute; petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon purple to clear yellow, occasionally 2-colored with purple and yellow, not spirally twisted, lanceolate to ovate, 1.8–4.8 × 0.9–2 cm, thick-textured, base attenuate to weakly clawed, margins entire, apex acute; stamens incurved, 10–15 mm; filaments erect, dark purple, 4–6 mm, ± slender; anthers strongly incurved above filaments, dark purple, 5–16 mm, ± thick, dehiscence introrse; connectives strongly incurved inward, dark purple, projecting about 1 mm beyond anther sacs; ovary greenish with ± purple stains distally, transversely rhombic to angular-ovate, somewhat 6-angled or -winged, 7–10 mm, ± equaling filament height; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, ± linear, 4–6 mm, slightly thickened basally. Fruits green to white- and purple-streaked, odorless, rhomboid-ovoid, 6-angled, almost winged, ca. 1 cm diam., pulpy. 2n = 10.


Phenology: Flowering spring (late Mar–late May).
Habitat: Rich clayey floodplain soils, plants often temporarily inundated while in flower, rich moist woods and bluffs, limestone-derived soils
Elevation: 100–200 m

Distribution

V26 137-distribution-map.jpg

Ala., Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., La., Mich., Miss., Mo., Ohio, Tenn., Tex., Wis.

Discussion

Trillium recurvatum has several named color forms, most notably forma shayi E. J. Palmer & Steyermark with clear yellow petals, and one foliose anomaly (possibly caused by mycoplasma).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Trillium recurvatum"
Frederick W. Case Jr. +
L. C. Beck +
Prairie trillium +, toadshade +  and bloody noses +
Ala. +, Ark. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Ky. +, La. +, Mich. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, Ohio +, Tenn. +, Tex. +  and Wis. +
100–200 m +
Rich clayey floodplain soils, plants often temporarily inundated while in flower, rich moist woods and bluffs, limestone-derived soils +
Flowering spring (late Mar–late May). +
Amer. J. Sci. Arts +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
Trillium recurvatum +
Trillium subg. Phyllantherum +
species +