''Trillium decumbens'', also known as the decumbent trillium or trailing wakerobin, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the bunchflower

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

(

Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family of flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to ...

). It is native to the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, specifically

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, where it grows in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes.

Description

''T. decumbens'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

that blooms from mid-March to April. The dark maroon flower petals are long and twisted, and held upright at full bloom. The flowers emit a strongly fetid odor. Unlike most other trilliums, its stems grow along the ground ("decumbent") rather than standing upright, so that the plant appears to rest on the surrounding leaf litter. This characteristic is what drew the attention of its discoverer,

Charles Lawrence Boynton Charles Lawrence Boynton (February 7, 1864 – September 16, 1943) was an American botanist active in the Southeastern United States, working at Biltmore Estate with Chauncey Beadle and his brother, Frank Ellis Boynton Frank Ellis Boynton (Ju ...

. Its leaves are mottled green and silver. They die back early in the season while the fruit, a dark purple berry, is still developing. By early autumn, the ripe fruit is presented on a stalk without surrounding leaves.

Taxonomy

Thomas Grant Harbison Thomas Grant Harbison (1862–1936) was an American botanist. Harbison lived and worked in Union County, Pennsylvania until 1886 when he moved to North Carolina. He attended college during extended vacations, never registering for a continuous yea ...

formally described the species in 1902, as part of a project to review what he considered the neglected biodiversity within the genus. He emphasized the uniqueness of its combination of a decumbent and finely-hairy stem, relatively large and twisted petals, and prominently elongated anther connectives to distinguish it from other trilliums. Although this species is secure it is critically imperiled in the Tennessee and vulnerable in both Georgia and Alabama. Several "amazingly disjunct" central Georgia populations formerly identified as ''T. decumbens'' are thought to constitute a new species, ''Trillium delicatum'' . The latter differs markedly from ''T. decumbens'' genetically, morphologically, and ecologically, resembling it only in general appearance.

Bibliography

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References

External links

*
Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) occurrence data and maps for ''Trillium decumbens''
decumbens Flora of the Eastern United States {{liliales-stub