Decumbent trillium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Decumbent trillium |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Trillium
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| Species: |
decumbens
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Trillium decumbens, also known as the decumbent trillium or trailing wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, growing in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes.
Harbison first described the species in 1902. Unlike most other trilliums, its stems grow along the ground rather than standing upright, so that the plant appears to rest on the ground. Its leaves are mottled green and bronze, overlaid with silver, dying back early in the season.
T. decumbens is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms from mid-March to April. The flower petals are dark maroon or purple. After flowering, it bears a dark purple berry.
Several central Georgia populations formerly identified as T. decumbens are thought to constitute a new species, T. delicatum. The latter differs markedly from T. decumbens genetically, morphologically, and ecologically, resembling it only in general appearance.
