Trillium flexipes

Trillium flexipes, known as the nodding wakerobin, bent trillium, or drooping trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae.^[3][4][5] It is found from Minnesota to Ohio, south to Tennessee, with isolated (and sometimes rare) populations in New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and other states.^[6] It is an endangered species in Ontario^[7] and threatened in North Carolina.^[8]

Trillium flexipes
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Melanthiaceae
Genus:	Trillium
Species:	T. flexipes
Binomial name
Trillium flexipes Raf.
Synonyms[2]
Trillium declinatum Gleason 1906, nom. illeg. Trillium declinatum f. walpolei Friesner Trillium flexipes f. walpolei (Farw.) Fernald Trillium gleasonii Fernald

Description

T. flexipes is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by means of underground rhizomes. In northern areas, the flower tends to hang below the leaves, while central and southern strains have a large erect flower.^[9] The flower petals are normally white but can be reddish or maroon. The fruit is rosy red to purplish and fragrant of ripe fruit.^[4]

• 
  Typical flower with white petals
• 
  Variant with red petals

T. flexipes is known to hybridize with other Trillium species. In particular, hybrids between T. flexipes and T. erectum can occur. Indeed, the red-petaled forms of T. flexipes tend to occur in regions where the ranges of both species coincide.^[10] Hybridization is also suspected between T. flexipes and T. sulcatum.^[11]

Bibliography

• Case, Frederick W.; Case, Roberta B. (1997). Trilliums. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-374-2.
• Patrick, Thomas S. (1984). "Trillium sulcatum (Liliaceae), a New Species of the Southern Appalachians". Brittonia. 36 (1). New York Botanical Garden: 26–36. doi:10.2307/2806287. JSTOR 2806287. S2CID 85116255.