Trillium

For other uses, see Trillium (disambiguation).
Trillium
Trillium erectum (red trillium)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Genus: Trillium
L.
Type species
Trillium cernuum
L.[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Delostylis Raf.
  • Phyllantherum Raf.
  • Huxhamia Garden
  • Trillidium Kunth
  • Esdra Salisb.

Trillium (trillium, wakerobin, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort) is a genus of perennial flowering plants native to temperate regions of North America and Asia.[2]

It was formerly treated in the family Trilliaceae or trillium family, a part of the Liliales or lily order. The APG III system includes Trilliaceae in the family Melanthiaceae, where can be treated as the tribe Parideae.[3]

Description

Plants of this genus are perennial herbs growing from rhizomes. They produce scapes which are erect and straight in most species. There are three large bracts arranged in a whorl about the scape. There are no true aboveground leaves. There are sometimes scalelike leaves on the underground rhizome. The leaflike bracts are photosynthetic and are sometimes called leaves. The inflorescence is a single flower. There are two subgenera. In T. subg. Trillium the flowers are mostly borne on a short stalk (pedicellate) whereas in T. subg. Phyllantherum the flowers are born directly on the bracts (sessile). The flower has three green or reddish sepals and usually three petals in shades of red, purple, pink, white, yellow, or green. There are six stamens at the center. There are three stigmas that are borne on a very short style, if any. The fruit is fleshy and capsule-like or berrylike. The seeds have large, oily elaiosomes.[4][5]

Rarely, individuals have four-fold symmetry, with four bracts (leaves) and four petals in the blossom.[6][7]

Species

Accepted Species[2][8]
  1. Trillium albidum J.D.Freeman – WA, OR, CA
  2. Trillium angustipetalum (Torr.) J.D.Freeman – California
  3. Trillium apetalon Makino – Sakhalin, Kuril, Japan
  4. Trillium camschatcense Ker Gawl. – Japan, Korea, NE China, E Russia
  5. Trillium catesbaei Elliott – SE US (GA, AL, TN, SC, NC)
  6. Trillium cernuum L. – E Canada, NE + NC US
  7. Trillium channellii Fukuda – Japan
  8. Trillium chloropetalum (Torr.) Howell – California
  9. Trillium × crockerianum – California
  10. Trillium cuneatum Raf. – SE US (GA, AL, TN, SC, MS, KY, MO)
  11. Trillium decipiens J.D.Freeman – SE US (GA, AL, FL)
  12. Trillium decumbens Harb. – SE US (GA, AL, TN)
  13. Trillium discolor Hook. – SE US (GA, SC, NC)
  14. Trillium erectum L. – E Canada, E US
  15. Trillium flexipes Raf. – Ontario, E US
  16. Trillium foetidissimum J.D.Freeman – Louisiana, Mississippi
  17. Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D.Don – Himalayas, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan
  18. Trillium gracile J.D.Freeman – W Louisiana, E Texas
  19. Trillium grandiflorum (Michx.) Salisb. – E Canada, E + C US
  20. Trillium × hagae – Japan, E Russia
  21. Trillium × komarovii – Japan, E Russia
  22. Trillium kurabayashii J.D.Freeman – SW Oregon, N California
  23. Trillium lancifolium Raf. – SE US (GA, AL, TN, SC, FL)
  24. Trillium ludovicianum Harb. – Louisiana, Mississippi
  25. Trillium luteum (Muhl.) Harb. – SE US (GA, NC, TN, KY)
  26. Trillium maculatum Raf. – SE US (GA, AL, SC, FL)
  27. Trillium × miyabeanum – Hokkaido
  28. Trillium nivale Riddell – north-central US
  29. Trillium oostingii Gaddy – South Carolina
  30. Trillium ovatum Pursh – W Canada, W US
  31. Trillium persistens W.H.Duncan – South Carolina, NE Georgia
  32. Trillium petiolatum Pursh – NW US (WA, OR, ID)
  33. Trillium pusillum Michx. – SE + SC US from TX to MD
  34. Trillium recurvatum L.C.Beck – central US
  35. Trillium reliquum J.D.Freeman – Georgia, South Carolina
  36. Trillium rugelii Rendle – SE US (GA, AL, TN, SC, NC)
  37. Trillium sessile L. – central US
  38. Trillium simile Gleason – SE US (GA, TN, NC)
  39. Trillium smallii Maxim. – Sakhalin, Hokkaido
  40. Trillium stamineum Harb. – Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi
  41. Trillium sulcatum T.S.Patrick – east-central US
  42. Trillium taiwanense S.S.Ying – Taiwan
  43. Trillium tschonoskii Maxim. – E Asia from Sikkim to Kuril
  44. Trillium underwoodii Small – Alabama, Georgia, N Florida
  45. Trillium undulatum Willd. – E Canada, E US
  46. Trillium vaseyi Harb. – SE US (GA, AL, TN, SC, NC)
  47. Trillium viride L.C.Beck – Illinois, Missouri
  48. Trillium viridescens Nutt. – south-central US
  49. Trillium × yezoense Tatew. ex J.Samej. – Hokkaido

Ecology

Trilliums are myrmecochorous, with ants as agents of seed dispersal. Ants are attracted to the elaiosomes on the seeds and collect them and transport them away from the parent plant. The seeds of Trillium camschatcense and T. tschonoskii, for example, are collected by the ants Aphaenogaster smythiesi and Myrmica ruginodis. Sometimes beetles interfere with the dispersal process by eating the elaiosomes off the seeds, making them less attractive to ants.[9]

Conservation

Trillium grandiflorum (great white trillium)

Picking parts off a trillium plant can kill it even if the rhizome is left undisturbed.[10] Some species of trillium are listed as threatened or endangered and collecting these species may be illegal. Laws in some jurisdictions may restrict the commercial exploitation of trilliums and prohibit collection without the landowner's permission. In the US states of Oregon, Michigan[10] and Minnesota[11] it is illegal to pick trilliums. In New York it is illegal to pick the red trillium.[12]

It is illegal to in any way injure the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in Ontario, though there are two exceptions: a person will not be fined if the person is a public works employee carrying out their job on public land, or the person is a private citizen carrying out "necessary work" on land the person owns or lawfully occupies.[13] The rare Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) is also protected by law in Ontario, because of its very small Canadian population.

High white tail deer population density decreases or eliminates trillium in an area.

Medicinal uses

Several species contain sapogenins. They have been used traditionally as uterine stimulants, the inspiration for the common name birthwort. In a 1918 publication, Joseph E. Meyer called it "beth root", probably a corruption of "birthroot". He claimed that an astringent tonic derived from the root was useful in controlling bleeding and diarrhea.[14]

Culture

Trillium used as the official symbol for the Province of Ontario

A white trillium serves as the emblem and official flower of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is an official symbol of the Government of Ontario. The large white trillium is the official wildflower of Ohio.;[15] in light of their shared connection to the flower, the Major League Soccer teams in Toronto and Columbus compete with each other for the Trillium Cup.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Tropicos, Trillium L.
  2. 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ↑ Zomlefer, Wendy B.; Williams, Norris H.; Whitten, W. Mark; Judd, Walter S. (2001). "Generic Circumscription and Relationships in the Tribe Melanthieae (Liliales, Melanthiaceae), with Emphasis on Zigadenus: Evidence from ITS and trnL-F Sequence Data". American Journal of Botany. 88 (9): 1657–1669. doi:10.2307/3558411. JSTOR 3558411. PMID 21669700.
  4. ↑ Flora of North America, Vol. 26 Page 90, Trillium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 339. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 158. 1754.
  5. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 95 延龄草属 yan ling cao shu Trillium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 339. 1753.
  6. ↑ Kevin Kirkland, Two 4-petaled trilliums found, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 11, 2013; Trillium erectum and Trillium grandiflorum examples are given.
  7. ↑ Photo of a 4-leaved Trillium recurvatum.
  8. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
  9. ↑ Ohara, M. and S. Higashi. (1987). Interference by ground beetles with the dispersal by ants of seeds of Trillium species (Liliaceae). The Journal of Ecology 75(4) 1091–98.
  10. 1 2 O'Connor, R. P. and M. R. Penskar. 2004. Special plant abstract for Trillium undulatum (painted trillium). Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing, MI, USA.
  11. ↑ 2005 Minnesota Code – 18H.18 — Conservation of Certain Wildflowers. US Codes and Statutes: Minnesota.
  12. ↑ Nuffer, B. Red Trillium. New York State Conservationist. April, 2009. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
  13. ↑ Legislative Assembly of Ontario An Act to amend the Floral Emblem Act. Bill 184, Ontario Trillium Protection Act 2009.
  14. ↑ Meyer, J. E. The Herbalist and Herb Doctor. Hammond, IN: Indiana Herb Gardens, 1918, p. 50.
  15. ↑ Adoption of the Ohio State Wildflower

External links

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