Ozark trillium
Trillium viridescens Nutt.
Images
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Morphology
- Stem
- Scapes, erect, from rhizomes.
- Leaves
- Leaves aboveground absent, leaf-like structures (actually bracts) whorled, 3. Bracts sessile, blade dark green, obscurely marked with few to many darker blotches or unmottled, broadly ovate to round, 3.5 to 5.5 inches long, 2.75 to 3.5 inches wide, apex broadly rounded or obscurely cuspidate.
- Inflorescence
- Solitary flower
- Flower
- Sepals 3, green, sometimes tinged brown or purple, spreading, lanceolate, 1.5 to 2.5 inches long, .2 to .5 inch wide, apex acute; petals 3, ascending or erect, brownish purple or purple proximally, yellowish green or green distally, sometimes all dark purple, elliptic to narrowly spatulate, 1.5 to 3.2 inches long, .3 to .5 inch wide; stamens 6, distinct, free, one-quarter to one-third as long as petals; anthers .6 to .8 inch; pistil 1; style 1.
- Fruit
- Fruits berries, dark purplish green or green, ovoid; seeds several per locule.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Moist, maple-basswood and oak-hickory forests, often on sloping banks
- Distribution
- Trillium viridescens is known only from Cherokee County.
Additional Notes
Comments
Trillium, 3 + Lilium, alluding the flower parts in threes and viridescens, becoming green, alluding to the sepals. Trilliums produce no true aerial stems or leaves. Scale-like leaves are produced only on the rhizomes. The stem-like structure that bears the flowers technically is a scape, and the leaf-like structures subtending the flowers are bracts that have taken on the functions of leaves.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Wildflower
- Family
- Melanthiaceae - Bunchflower Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 4-12 inches
- Origin
- Native
- Last Updated
- 2016-03-19
Color Groups
Blue, Purple, Lavender & Violet Wildflowers
White, Green & Greenish White Wildflowers
Flowering Period
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Blooms: April, May