22 



BILTMORE BOTANICAL STUDIES 



writes under Trillium sessile L. : "I have seen a specimen with 

 yellow flowers, brought from the Cherokee Nation, which probably 

 may be a distinct species." 



First collected by the writer in the " Cherokee country" in 

 North Carolina, in the spring of 1886, this yellow-flowered form 

 was found on several subsequent occasions in other stations in 

 the mountains of the same state and adjacent Tennessee. This 

 is not a rare plant, and it seems strange that it should have been 

 lost sight of for so many years. In proposing this apparently 

 little known Trillium as being worthy of specific standing, it 

 seems proper to recharacterize it in this paper. 



Stem erect, from a horizontal rootstock, solitary or clustered, 

 I «5 _ 3-5 dm ta U> stout, smooth : leaves sessile, broadly ovate to 

 ovate-orbicular, 8-i6 cm long, acute or abruptly acuminate, mot- 

 tled : flowers sessile ; sepals lanceolate, 3-5 cm long, obtuse or 

 acute, green or tinged with purple, somewhat spreading ; petals 

 lanceolate or broad-lanceolate, about half as long again as the 

 sepals, acute or acutish, erect, bright yellow : stamens one-fourth 

 to one-third as long as the petals at maturity : filaments very 

 short, yellow: anthers i.4-i.8 cm long, straight, yellow: stigmas 

 somewhat recurved, shorter than the anthers, yellow : berry 

 ovoid, greenish, i-2 cm in diameter. 



In woods and along streams in North Carolina and Tennessee. 

 April and May. 



North Carolina: Marshall, E. E. Magee, May, 1896; Hot Springs, Bilt- 

 more Herbarium, April, 1897. Tennessee : Knoxville, A. Ruth, April, 1897 > 

 Knoxville, Ihos. H. Kearney, Jr., April, 1897. 



Trillium luteum has, in some instances, been confounded with T. discolor 

 Wray, 1. c, from which it is well distinguished by its larger size, differently 

 shaped petals, stouter and more recurved stigmas, and yellow stamens. From 

 T. sessile L. , 1. c, it may readily be separated by its larger size, the mottling 

 of the leaves, shorter filaments, color of the petals and character of the stig- 

 mas. From T. underzuoodi Small 18 , it may readily be separated by the color 

 of the petals, ovary, filaments and anthers, but in all other respects these 

 forms of the sessile-flowered Trillium are remarkably similar. That T. 

 luteum finds its nearest relative in T. underzuoodi is very evident, and inter- 

 grading forms ranging from dark purple to greenish would indicate a very close 

 affinity. By segregating 7*. underzuoodi from T. sessile and by pointing out 

 the true characters of the latter, Dr. Small has rendered great service to the 

 student of this group, and it is to be regretted that T. luteum was overlooked 

 jn his valuable paper. 



» s Torr. Bot. Club. 24: 172, 1897. 



