Wildflowers of the United States

Green Trillium, Ozark Green Trillium, Tapertip Wakerobin - Trillium viridescens

Genus Common Name: Trillium

Native Status: Native

Monocot Perennial Herb Leaves:Whorl

Trillium viridescens - Green Trillium, Ozark Green Trillium, Tapertip Wakerobin.
There are over 40 species in the Trillium genus worldwide; Flora of North America lists 38 species being found on this continent, and new species (or species separation) continue to occur regularly. Trillium was placed in the Liliaceae family for most of its lifetime of scientific classification. Most authorities have recently removed it from Liliaceae and placed it in Melanthiaceae because unlike other Liliaceae, the petals and sepals of Trillium are distinctly different - in most other Liliaceae species very similar. Note that this tepal issue is at play in other Liliaceae species such as Calochortus, and it is almost universally accepted that Liliaceae will continue to be dismembered. Even more recent phylogenetic analysis (Schilling, Floden, and Farmer, 2013) implies that there are sufficient differences from other Melanthiaceae to warrant inclusion in a separate family, and a number of respected authorities now place Trillium in Trilliaceae. I continue to place it in Liliaceae until the dust settles.

Trillium viridescens is found blooming in April and May in rich soils of deciduous forests in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. It is one of the sessile-flowered Trilliums (subgenus Phyllantherum), and it can be difficult to tell the difference between some of the species in that subgenus - I certainly find it so!T. viridescens and T. viride look nearly identical, and are geographically closely located. T. luteum also looks similar, and has been confused with the other two species in the past, but T. luteum is not found west of the Mississippi River (well east of it, in fact), and the other two species are not found east of the Mississippi. While there are reports of T. viride further west, authoritative reports conclude that the ranges of T. viride and T. viridescens do not overlap, and that T. viride is found only near the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in northeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. Along with other attributes, that leaves me concluding that what I photographed in and near Roaring River State Park in southwestern Missouri is Trillium viridescens.

Found in:
AR , KS , MO , OK , TX

Distribution of Trillium viridescens in the United States and Canada:

Map courtesy of The Biota of North America Program.
Map color key
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Site: Sugar Camp Scenic Byway, Mark Twain National Forest, Barry County, MO Date: 2019-April-21	Photographer: Gerald C. Williamson Nikon D7000 Tamron SP 90MM f/2.8 AF Macro
As with all Trillium, Ozark Green Trillium has three leaf-like bracts, three sepals, and three petals. (There are occasional exceptions in individual plants.) Both the bracts and flowers of Trillium viridescens are sessile. The petals are usually mostly green or yellow-green with purple coloring in the base. This petals are erect, and sometimes twisting in a spiral (the petals of similar T. viride do not spiral.) The pistils of T. viridescens are about half as long as the stamens, and the stamens are less than half as long as the petals. The green sepals are spreading. The sepals usually have some purple in the base.

Site: Roaring River State Park, Barry County, MO Date: 2019-April-21	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
The petals may occasionally be mostly or entirely purplish rather than green. It is reported that the odor, if present at all, is spicy or musty. The odor of the similar Trillium viride is that of rotten fruit.
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Site: Sugar Camp Scenic Byway, Mark Twain National Forest, Barry County, MO Date: 2019-April-21	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
The stem-like scape of Ozark Green Trillium is 10 to 20 inches tall. The bracts (leaves) are up to about 5.5 inches long and 3.5 inches wide. Sometimes early in anthesis the bracts may touch the ground. They are green and have some obscure darker mottling, although occasionally the bracts are unmottled.
Click on the photo for a larger image
Site: Sugar Camp Scenic Byway, Mark Twain National Forest, Barry County, MO Date: 2019-April-21	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
Trillium viridescens may have up to 3 scapes arising from the plant's underground rhizome. These are likely four different plants (possibly three) since the distance between the flowering scapes is likely greater than the length of the horizontal rhizome.
Click on the photo for a larger image

References used for identification and information:

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Trillium viridescens initially published on USWildflowers.com 2019-11-03; Updated 2019-11-03

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Code Update 20230302