trillium tennesseense - tennessee trillium
The Tennessee Trillium (Trillium tennesseense) grows from 6 to 14 inches tall. It is a sessile-flowered trillium with an ovate to broadly elliptic shape. The sepals are elliptic-lanceolate, green to maroon, and from .6 to 1.4 inches long. The petals are broadly spatulate 1.8 to 2.4 inches long and .4 to .8 inches wide. The claw is narrow, 1 to 3mm wide, and purple; the spatulate portion of the petal flares abruptly and is yellow-green in color. The claw is 1/7 to 1/5 of the petal length. The stamens are just slightly taller than the carpal.
The flower's odor is described as chemical-like, resembling the smell of old shoe polish. The seeds are tan in color.
This flower is similar to Trillium oostingii, a species that was fairly recently discovered in South Carolina, but differs in several subtle ways.
Trillium tennessense is known only from the slopes of a portion of the Bays Mountain formation in Hamblen and Hawkins counties, Tennessee.
This plant is rare, and has primarily been found in drainage areas and floodplains.
Note: This is a special plant for me as my wife and I were the first to discover the plant. We found it growing on our property in 2011. We initially consulted with several botanists, and ended up working very extensively with botanists at the University of Tennessee who confirmed through genetic testing in 2012 that it was indeed a new species.
To read about the Tennessee Trillium in a 2014 Appalachian Voice article, click here. To download the article click the file below:
The flower's odor is described as chemical-like, resembling the smell of old shoe polish. The seeds are tan in color.
This flower is similar to Trillium oostingii, a species that was fairly recently discovered in South Carolina, but differs in several subtle ways.
Trillium tennessense is known only from the slopes of a portion of the Bays Mountain formation in Hamblen and Hawkins counties, Tennessee.
This plant is rare, and has primarily been found in drainage areas and floodplains.
Note: This is a special plant for me as my wife and I were the first to discover the plant. We found it growing on our property in 2011. We initially consulted with several botanists, and ended up working very extensively with botanists at the University of Tennessee who confirmed through genetic testing in 2012 that it was indeed a new species.
To read about the Tennessee Trillium in a 2014 Appalachian Voice article, click here. To download the article click the file below:
| tennessee_trillium_appalachian_voices_voice_2014_02aprmay.pdf |