Flora of Georgia and surrounding states
Trilliums!
Trillium erectum Linnæus 1753, red trillium, purple trillium, stinking Willie, stinking Benjamin, wake-robin
Taxonomy
When Linnæus named the trilliums, there were only three. Those with erect flowers became Trillium erectum. Those with sessile (stalkless) became Trilliuim sessile. Those with flower stalks that bent down below the leaves became Trillium cernuum. There are now at least 120 different names for the trilliums. It's gotten more complicated since 1753. But the basic form of the red trillium has been stable since then and this is the only name the "pure" red trillium has.
Etymology
The epithet comes from the Latin erectus, upright, elevated; referns to the flower stalk rising erect above the bract.
Red and purple trillium names are of obvious origin. The "stinking" comes from the fetid, wet dog smell of the flower. I must say that I've smelled thousands of red trillium and, to my nose, the adjective "fetid" is a grand overstatement. The wet dog smell might be closer, but I don't find the smell disagreeable at all. I give the warning that humans have wildly differing olfactory sensations!
Wake-robin has proven difficult to find a definitive etymology. Many sources say it comes from a reminder of the spring return of the robins and their red breasts, but the term has come to mean most eastern woodland trillium, many of which are not white. Disregarding the color, many trilliums do flower, at least in the northern half of North America, about the time robins return. Here in Georgia, we don't lose robins for the winter, so they are already here when the wake-robin flowers.
Status
No federal or state status.
NatureServe status is G5 - Secure.
Destribution & Habitat
The Biota of North America has a county-level distribution map.
The UNC Atlas has a county-level distribution map.
The UGA Atlas has a county-level distribution map.
Red trillium is mostly a northeastern plant with our southern material restricted to rich slopes and coves in the mountains, usually in mid to high elevation. Here in Georgia it is restricted to our counties that border North Carolina except for Stephens County.
When Linnæus named the trilliums, there were only three. Those with erect flowers became Trillium erectum. Those with sessile (stalkless) became Trilliuim sessile. Those with flower stalks that bent down below the leaves became Trillium cernuum. There are now at least 120 different names for the trilliums. It's gotten more complicated since 1753. But the basic form of the red trillium has been stable since then and this is the only name the "pure" red trillium has.
Etymology
The epithet comes from the Latin erectus, upright, elevated; referns to the flower stalk rising erect above the bract.
Red and purple trillium names are of obvious origin. The "stinking" comes from the fetid, wet dog smell of the flower. I must say that I've smelled thousands of red trillium and, to my nose, the adjective "fetid" is a grand overstatement. The wet dog smell might be closer, but I don't find the smell disagreeable at all. I give the warning that humans have wildly differing olfactory sensations!
Wake-robin has proven difficult to find a definitive etymology. Many sources say it comes from a reminder of the spring return of the robins and their red breasts, but the term has come to mean most eastern woodland trillium, many of which are not white. Disregarding the color, many trilliums do flower, at least in the northern half of North America, about the time robins return. Here in Georgia, we don't lose robins for the winter, so they are already here when the wake-robin flowers.
Status
No federal or state status.
NatureServe status is G5 - Secure.
Destribution & Habitat
The Biota of North America has a county-level distribution map.
The UNC Atlas has a county-level distribution map.
The UGA Atlas has a county-level distribution map.
Red trillium is mostly a northeastern plant with our southern material restricted to rich slopes and coves in the mountains, usually in mid to high elevation. Here in Georgia it is restricted to our counties that border North Carolina except for Stephens County.
|
Red trillium isn't really a good name for this trillium as its flowers can be a purple, a very deep maroon, red, white, yellow or green and any mixture of these colors that one can imagine.
This group of plants are all Trillium erectum, growing along the Rough Fork Trail just north of Polls Gap on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here pure white and pure red flowers grow right next to each other and illustrate that, at least among some flowers, color can be a very misleading character to base identification upon. |
|
This erect trillium has basically white petals, but they are suffused with magenta-maroon that forms various sizes of dots on the white base with a few areas where it is nearly uniform as the base color. Near the base of the base of the petals they turn pure white.
|
|
|
This white flowered erect trillium is perhaps the most robust of any Trillium erectum I've ever seen.
|