276 TRILLIACEAE 



Flowers several in an umbel-like cluster : sepals and petals nearly alike : flowering stem with a whorl 

 of leaves and a whorl of bracts. 1. MKDEOLA. 



Flower solitary : sepals and petals very different : flowering stem (scape) with only a 



whorl of leaf-like bracts. 2. TRILLIUM. 



1. MEDEOLA L. 



Caulescent herbs, with elongated brittle rootstocks and loosely woolly foliage. Leaves 

 several in a whorl, flat, thinnish. Bracts few in a whorl, high above the leaves, subtend- 

 ing the simple flower-cluster. Pedicels slender, more or less declined. Sepals and petals 

 quite similar. Anthers shorter than the filaments. Stigmas recurved. Berries pulpy. 

 The plants flower in the spring. 



1. Medeola Virginica L. Foliage sparingly woolly. Kootstock horizontal, several 

 cm. long : stems 2-9 dm. tall, naked except for a whorl of leaves about the middle and a 

 whorl of bracts at the top of the peduncle, simple : leaves 4-10 ; blades elliptic, spatulate or 

 obovate, 5-15 cm. long, acuminate, sessile : bracts similar to the leaves but fewer, smaller and 

 rather broader in proportion to their length : pedicels 2-15 in the umbel, slender, 2-3 cm. 

 long, declined in flower, erect or ascending at maturity : perianth greenish, 1.5-2 cm. 

 broad : sepals and petals oblong to oval : berries subglobose or depressed, 8-15 mm. in 

 diameter, dark purple. 



In woods and on banks, Nova Scotia to Minnesota, Florida and Alabama. INDIAN CUCUMBER-ROOT. 



2. TRILLIUM L. 



Scapose fleshy herbs, with short or elongated corm-like rootstocks. Scapes surmounted 

 by a whorl of 3 netted-veined bracts. Flower solitary, sessile or pedicelled, the pedicels 

 erect, recurved or declined. Sepals 3, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 3, early withering 

 or deciduous, white, pink, purple, brown or yellow. Filaments mainly shorter than the 

 narrow anthers. Berry ovoid or subglobose, 3-6-lobed or 3-6-angled. The plants flower in 

 the spring and mature their fruit in the summer. WAKE-ROBIN. BIRTH-ROOT. BESS- 

 ROOT. 



Flower sessile. 



Petals neither narrowed into claws nor claw-like bases, of one color throughout. 

 Petals broadly spatulate, one usually apiculate : anthers less than 10 mm. long. 



1. T. discolor. 



Petals not broadly spatulate, not apiculate : anthers over 10 mm. long. 

 Scape rough-pubescent near the top.: bracts with pubescent veins be- 

 neath. 

 Scape erect : bracts raised above the ground : petals 2-t cm. long : 



anther-sacs 15-18 mm. long ; connective not much prolonged. 2. T. stamineum. 

 Scape decumbent : bracts lying flat on the ground : petals 4-7 cm. 



long: anther-sacs 8-10 mm. long; connective much prolonged. 3. T. decumbens. 

 Scape and bracts smooth and glabrous. 



Bracts 4-8 cm. long, with blades of an oval or suborbicular type. 4. T. sessile. 



Bracts 10-20 cm. long, with blades of an ovate-lanceolate or ovate-or- 

 bicular type. 

 Petals purple : anthers with purple connectives. 



Blades of the bracts typically twice as long as broad, and con- 

 spicuously mottled : filaments less than 2 mm. long. 5. T. UnderwoodiL 

 Blades of the bracts typically as broad as long, and not mottled : 



filaments over 2 mm. long. 6. T. Hugeri. 



Petals yellow : anthers with yellow or greenish connectives. 7. T. luteum. 



Petals narrowed into claws or claw-like bases which often differ in color from 



the blades. 



Bracts not narrowed at the base : petals with linear or linear-oblong blades. 

 Scapes rough-pubescent above. 



Bracts acuminate: petals thin, mainly purple or red. 8. T. viridescenf. 



Bracts obtuse or merely acute : petals thick, green. 9. T. viride. 



Scapes smooth and glabrous. 



Bracts with ovate blades : anthers straight : filaments J- as long as 



the anthers. 10. T. Ludovicianum. 



Bracts with lanceolate or elliptic blades : anthers curved : filaments 



about as long as the anthers. 11. T. lanceolatum. 



Bracts narrowed into petiole-like bases : petals with ovate, elliptic or obo- 

 vate blades. 12. T. recurvatum. 



Flower pedicelled. 



A. Bracts not narrowed into petiole-like bases. 



a. Pedicel erect or rarely declined, if declined usually several times longer 



than the sepals. 



Bracts with lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate blades, 3-4 cm. long. 13. T. pusillum. 



Bracts with broadly rhombic or rhombic-ovate or oval blades, 6-16 cm. 



in diameter. 



* Petals ovate or lanceolate, slightly longer than the sepals, 

 t Filaments stout, much shorter than the anthers. 



