Trillium erectum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Red trillium)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "redirect hatnote". Template:Refimprove Template:Speciesbox

Trillium erectum, the red trillium,[1] also known as wake robin,[2]Template:R/superscript purple trillium,[3] bethroot,[4]Template:R/superscript or stinking benjamin,[5]Template:R/superscript 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.

Red Trillium
Red trillium close up, showing detail of ovary and stamens

Description

Trillium erectum 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).[6]Template:R/superscript[7]Template:R/superscript It grows to about Script error: No such module "convert". in height with a spread of Script error: No such module "convert".. The petals are dark reddish brown, maroon, purple, pale yellow, or white.[2]Template:R/superscript The ovary is dark purple to maroon regardless of petal color. If the flower is successfully pollinated, the petals wither, leaving behind a fruit that ripens to a dark red berry-like capsule, Script error: No such module "convert". long.[8][9]

Species complex

Trillium erectum shares many anatomical details with other North American Trillium species.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp[10] These species hybridize in the wild, which has led some researchers to group them into a species complex, specifically, a syngameon of semispecies.[11][12]

The combinations of traits that are supposed to differentiate members of the complex from one another are sometimes inconsistently combined in wild populations. This has led some researchers to declare the individual species invalid, and refer to the species complex collectively as T. erectum (sensu lato).[13] Others acknowledge the existence of introgression and hybrid swarm formation between some or all complex members, but maintain that the named species within the complex represent convenient groups with common features.[14]

Members of the T. erectum complex have flowers with the following commonalities: (1) petals that are coarse and stiff in texture (in contrast with the wavy edges of other species), (2) petals that do not change color after pollination, (3) petals with prominent, netted veins, (4) fleshy stigmas that are attached to the ovary separately, without a common style, and (5) conspicuous, deeply-ridged ovaries.

North American members of the T. erectum species complex:

The Asian species T. camschatcense, resembles the North American T. flexipes very closely, and itself has close relatives with similar floral features. However, trillium speciation in this group of Asian species is characterized by differences in chromosome number, with hybrids more definitively distinguishable from parent species by karyotype.

Taxonomy

Trillium erectum was first described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[15]Template:R/superscript The specific epithet erectum means "upright, erect",Template:Sfnp a reference to the erect pedicel of some forms of this species. In many populations, however, the pedicel leans or declines, sometimes declining beneath the leaves, making the name somewhat inappropriate.Template:Sfnp

In 1803 André Michaux introduced the name Trillium rhomboideum to describe a form of T. erectum with black fruit in "the high mountains of North Carolina".[16]Template:R/superscript The specific epithet rhomboideum refers to the broadly rhombic leaves of this (and all) forms of T. erectum. Michaux also described Trillium rhomboideum var. atropurpureum, a variety with large, dark purple petals. A decade later in 1813, Frederick Traugott Pursh referred to Michaux's variety more simply as Trillium erectum var. atropurpureum.[17]Template:R/superscript Perhaps unaware of these taxonomic developments, other botanists subsequently described Trillium atropurpureum.[18]Template:R/superscript[19]Template:R/superscript The epithet atropurpureum means "dark-purple coloured",Template:Sfnp a reference to the petal color of certain forms of T. erectum. Indeed, in some locales T. erectum is commonly known as the purple trillium.

Infraspecies

File:Trillium erectum comparing red and white color varieties.jpg
Composite image showing both red and white color morphs of the flower of Trillium erectum. Note that both morphs have a dark purple gynoecium with contrasting anthers.

As of October 2021Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., Plants of the World Online (POWO) accepts two infraspecific names:[20]Template:R/superscript

  • Trillium erectum var. album (Michx.) PurshScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  • Trillium erectum var. erectum

POWO lists 30 synonyms for variety erectum and 3 synonyms for variety album.[21]Template:R/superscript[22]Template:R/superscript Michaux introduced the term album in 1803 by describing Trillium rhomboideum var. album,[23]Template:R/superscript a variety with a smaller flower and white petals.[16]Template:R/superscript Pursh gave a similar description for Trillium erectum var. album in 1814.[24]Template:R/superscript[17]Template:R/superscript The word album means "bright, dead-white",Template:Sfnp a reference to the variety's white petals, a distinctive feature noted by both Michaux and Pursh.

John Kunkel Small raised T. rhomboideum var. album Michx.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". to species rank in 1903.[25]Template:R/superscript In his description, he added long anthers to the list of characters cited by Michaux while expanding the range of the taxon to include North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.[26]Template:R/superscript In 1917, R.R. Gates recognized the existence of two distinct forms of T. erectum with white petals, one of which was represented by the previously mentioned Trillium album (Michx.) SmallScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..[27]Template:R/superscript This prompted Ralph Hoffmann to propose Trillium erectum f. albiflorum,[28]Template:R/superscript[29]Template:R/superscript a white-flowered form of T. erectum that occurs occasionally and spontaneously throughout the range of the species. Thus the distinct taxa recognized by Gates were fully realized by 1922.

POWO cites the Flora of North America (FNA) as an authority for Trillium erectum var. album (Michx.) PurshScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..[22]Template:R/superscript The treatment of the variety in FNA expands the original concept described by Michaux to include the occasional white-flowered red trillium found throughout the range of the species.[30]Template:R/superscript Under this scheme, all non-white petal colors (including yellow) comprise the typical variety (var. erectum).[31]Template:R/superscript Thus FNA lumps the two forms recognized by Gates into a single taxon. In contrast, POWO restricts the range of Trillium erectum var. album to eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Noting that its distribution is poorly understood, Flora of the Southeastern United States (FSUS) describes a white-flowered variety of T. erectum common to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, in North Carolina and Tennessee, but rare elsewhere.[32]Template:R/superscript FSUS suggests that variety album may be genetically distinct from variety erectum,Template:Sfnp while other evidence suggests there is little genetic difference between the two varieties.[33]Template:R/superscript

Distribution

File:Trillium erectum album.jpg
Trillium erectum var. album in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (April)

Trillium erectum is native to eastern North America. Its range extends from northern Georgia in the southeastern United States to Quebec and New Brunswick in eastern Canada, and as far west as Michigan and southern Ontario. The species is known to occur in the following provinces and states:[20]Template:R/superscript[2]Template:R/superscript[34]Template:R/superscript

  • Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec
  • United States:[35]Template:R/superscript Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia

Trillium erectum var. album (as described in the Flora of the Southeastern United States) occurs in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and other areas surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains, primarily at elevations less than Script error: No such module "convert"..[30]Template:R/superscript[31]Template:R/superscriptTemplate:Sfnp

As of October 2019Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., Trillium erectum is globally secure.[36]Template:R/superscript It is critically imperiled in Delaware, Illinois, and Rhode Island.

Ecology

Trillium erectum is a carrion-scented flower. It produces fetid or putrid odors purported to attract carrion fly and beetle pollinators.Template:Sfnp The fetid odor is described as that of a wet dog.[2]Template:R/superscript The common name stinking benjamin refers to this characteristic of the plant. "Benjamin" is a corruption of the word benzoin, which itself is a corruption of the word "benjoin", a plant-based organic compound used in the manufacture of perfume.[5]Template:R/superscript Despite the origins of the common name, the chemical basis of carrion-scented flowers is not well understood.[37]Template:R/superscript

Trillium erectum can tolerate extreme cold in winter, surviving temperatures down to Script error: No such module "convert"..Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Uses

The root of the red trillium was used by various indigenous peoples of North America as an aid in childbirth, hence the common name birthwort or birthroot (which is sometimes corrupted to bethroot). Root tea was used for menstrual disorders, to induce childbirth, and to aid in labor. The Cherokee peoples used a poultice of the whole plant to treat tumors, inflammation, and ulcers.[2]Template:R/superscript[4]Template:R/superscript[38]Template:R/superscript

The leaves contain calcium oxalate as raphides and should not be consumed by humans.[39]Template:R/superscriptScript error: No such module "Unsubst".

Trillium erectum is cultivated as a flowering ornamental plant. Although not as showy as T. grandiflorum, the flowers of some forms of T. erectum can be quite striking, especially since it tends to form large clumps.Template:Sfnp It has received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.[40]

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
  2. ↑ a b c d e Template:EFloras
  3. ↑ Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 79.
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Template:EFloras
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Template:If both
  16. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Template:If both
  19. ↑ Template:If both
  20. ↑ a b Template:Cite POWO
  21. ↑ Template:Cite POWO
  22. ↑ a b Template:Cite POWO
  23. ↑ Template:If both
  24. ↑ Template:If both
  25. ↑ Template:If both
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Template:If both
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ a b Template:EFloras
  31. ↑ a b Template:EFloras
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Template:BONAP
  35. ↑ Template:BONAP
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Bibliography

  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

External links

Script error: No such module "Side box".

Template:Taxonbar

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Trillium_erectum&oldid=9688811"