 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Tennessee Native Plant Society
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Native Plant of the Month
May, 2008
Southern Red Trillium
Trillium sulcatum
This southern Appalachian endemic was first recognized as a variety of Red Trillium (Trillium erectum) in
1938, but was given no formal description. In 1984, TNPS charter member Tom Patrick, now state botanist of
Georgia, described this as a new species while a student at the University of Tennessee. It is distinguished
by the keeled or grooved tips of the sepals and the cup-shaped base of the flower. In Tennessee this plant
can be found in the gulfs of the Cumberland Plateau and the hollows of the Eastern Highland Rim and Ridge
and Valley Province of Middle and East Tennessee blooming in late April to early May.
Trillium sulcatum
This southern Appalachian endemic was first recognized as a variety of Red Trillium (Trillium erectum) in
1938, but was given no formal description. In 1984, TNPS charter member Tom Patrick, now state botanist of
Georgia, described this as a new species while a student at the University of Tennessee. It is distinguished
by the keeled or grooved tips of the sepals and the cup-shaped base of the flower. In Tennessee this plant
can be found in the gulfs of the Cumberland Plateau and the hollows of the Eastern Highland Rim and Ridge
and Valley Province of Middle and East Tennessee blooming in late April to early May.
Click here for Native Plant of the Month Archive
 | |  |
