Trillium-time is upon us! This beautiful and uncommon group of plants is perennially interesting and compelling, so let's take a moment to chronicle their brief flowering season.
As documented previously, the arboretum is home to two species of trillium: Trillium gracile and Trillium recurvatum. In this series of photographs, we are focusing on Trillium recurvatum. The Key to Trillium, provided by the North Carolina Botanical Garden, helps to confirm that the species pictured below is indeed Trillium recurvatum.
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In this photo, we see two individual trillium plants. A tall stalk supports a little burgundy flower that has three large mottled green leaves.
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Do you see the three wine-colored petals that are standing upwards and meeting? This helps us identify our plant as Trillium recurvatum.
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This plant is less than a foot high, approximately 10 inches above the ground.
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One petal and two filaments were removed to get a better look at the reproductive parts.
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The green sepals curve down, between the mottled green leaves (bracts). These sepals touch the stalk (scape).
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There are six filaments. The anther connectives are curved inward.
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Filaments are more than ¼ inch in length. The flower does not smell bad; there is a faintly pleasant smell, nothing offensive. Following the Key to Trillium, we can conclude that this is definitely Trillium recurvatum.
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