Trillium decumbens, also known as the decumbent trillium[2] or trailing wakerobin,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae). It is native to the southeastern United States, specifically Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama,[4] where it grows in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes.[5]

Trillium decumbens
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Melanthiaceae
Genus:	Trillium
Species:	T. decumbens
Binomial name
Trillium decumbens Harb., 1902

Description

T. decumbens is a perennial herbaceous plant 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.[2] 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.[6] 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.[2]

Taxonomy

Thomas Grant Harbison 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.[6] Although this species is secure it is critically imperiled in the Tennessee and vulnerable in both Georgia and Alabama.[7]

Several "amazingly disjunct"[8] central Georgia populations formerly identified as T. decumbens are thought to constitute a new species, Trillium delicatum Floden & E.E.Schill..[9] The latter differs markedly from T. decumbens genetically, morphologically, and ecologically, resembling it only in general appearance.[10]

Bibliography

• Frett, Jeanne (2007). Trilliums at Mt. Cuba Center: A Visitor's Guide. Mt. Cuba Center Inc. ISBN 978-0-9770848-1-4.
• Armitage, Allan M. (2011). Armitage's Garden Perennials. Timber Press. pp. 315–317. ISBN 978-1-60469-038-5.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trillium decumbens.

• Citizen science observations for Trillium decumbens at iNaturalist
• Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) occurrence data and maps for Trillium decumbens

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