| Trillium crassifolium | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chelan County, Washington (May 2022) | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Melanthiaceae |
| Genus: | Trillium |
| Species: | T. crassifolium
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trillium crassifolium | |
Trillium crassifolium, the Wenatchee Mountains trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It was previously thought to be endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains in Washington but recent findings suggest its range extends into Oregon and Idaho as well.
Description
Trillium crassifolium is a perennial herbaceous 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 3 sepals, 3 petals, two whorls of 3 stamens each, and 3 carpels fused into a single ovary with 3 stigmas. [3]
Trillium crassifolium is similar to Trillium ovatum, differing from that species by having erect rhizomes, shorter petals, and thickish leaves. [4] The leaves of mature plants are elliptic (not ovate or rhombic) with their widest point near the middle. The leaf tips are obtuse to slightly acuminate. It has flattened filaments, a unique feature among the pedicellate trilliums of western North America. [5]
Taxonomy
Trillium crassifolium was described by the American botanist and agriculturalist Charles Vancouver Piper in 1899, [4] based on a type specimen collected by the American botanist Kirk Whited near Wenatchee, Washington earlier that same year. [6] At the time, some authorities considered Trillium crassifolium Piper to be a synonym for Trillium ovatum Pursh, [7]: 395 but as of April 2024 [update] it is widely accepted as a distinct species. [1] [8] [9] The specific name crassifolium means "with thick, fleshy or leathery leaves". [10]
Trillium crassifolium is a member of the grandiflorum group ( Trillium subgen. Callipetalon), [11] which includes all members of the Trillium ovatum complex. Based on phylogenetic analysis, it was placed as sister to Trillium nivale Riddell of the eastern United States, not Trillium ovatum as previously assumed. [12]
Distribution and habitat
Trillium crassifolium was originally collected near Wenatchee, Washington and for a long time it was thought to be endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains. [8] [13] In 2024, the species was reported to be more broadly distributed in the Blue Mountains and Rocky Mountains of Oregon, Washington, and west-central Idaho, [14] but by that time, it had become known as the Wenatchee Mountains Trillium. [1]
Conservation
In 2019, based on available evidence, the global conservation status of Trillium crassifolium was determined to be Critically Imperiled (G1). [1] [13] Since then the species is reported to have a wider distribution, [14] but as of April 2024 [update] its conservation status has not been reviewed.
References
- ^ a b c d "Trillium crassifolium". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ "Trillium crassifolium Piper". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 April 2024 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ a b Piper, Charles (1899). "Trillium crassifolium". Erythea. 7: 104. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ Wayman et al. (2024), p. 168.
- ^ "Whited, Kirk". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Gleason, Henry Allan (July 1906). "The pedunculate species of Trillium". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 33 (7): 387–396. doi: 10.2307/2478819. hdl: 2027/hvd.32044106472392. JSTOR 2478819. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Trillium crassifolium Piper". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ "Trillium crassifolium Piper". WFO Plant List. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Gledhill (2008), pp. 124.
- ^ Lampley et al. (2022), p. 281.
- ^ Wayman et al. (2024), p. 162.
- ^ a b Meredith et al. (2022), p. 40.
- ^ a b Wayman et al. (2024), p. 165.
Bibliography
- Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
- Lampley, Jayne A.; Gereau, Roy; Floden, Aaron; Schilling, Edward E. (2022-07-05). "A revised subgeneric classification of Trillium (Parideae, Melanthiaceae)". Phytotaxa. 552 (5): 278–286. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.552.5.1. S2CID 250368253.
- Meredith, Clayton; Frances, Anne; Highland, Amy; Oliver, Leah; Floden, Aaron; Gaddy, L.L.; Knapp, Wesley; Leaman, Danna; Leopold, Susan; Littlefield, Tara; Raguso, Robert; Schilling, Edward; Schotz, Alfred; Walker, Anna; Wayman, Kjirsten (2022). The Conservation Status of Trillium in North America. Hockessin, DE and Albuquerque, NM: Mt. Cuba Center, and New Mexico BioPark Society. ISBN 979-8-9850471-0-3. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- Wayman, Kjirsten A.; Wright, Alexander J.; Renner, Maralyn; Floden, Aaron; Lampley, Jayne A.; Farmer, Susan B.; Schilling, Edward E. (6 March 2024). "New insights into systematics of the Trillium ovatum complex". Madroño. 70 (3): 158–171. doi: 10.3120/0024-9637-70.3.158.
External links
- "Trillium ovatum var. ovatum". B.C. Minist. of Environment. Retrieved 8 December 2021.