Balsam Mtn, Catskills (04/24/19)

[조영갑]

Trillium (trillium, wakerobin, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort) is a genus of perennial flowering plants native to temperate regions of North America and Asia.^[2]

It was formerly treated in the family Trilliaceae or trillium family, a part of the Liliales or lily order. The APG III system includes Trilliaceae in the family Melanthiaceae, where can be treated as the tribe Parideae.^[3]

Description[edit]

Plants of this genus are perennial herbs growing from rhizomes. They produce scapes which are erect and straight in most species. There are three large bracts arranged in a whorl about the scape. There are no true aboveground leaves. There are sometimes scalelike leaves on the underground rhizome. The leaflike bracts are photosynthetic and are sometimes called leaves. The inflorescence is a single flower. There are two subgenera. In T. subg. Trillium the flowers are mostly borne on a short stalk (pedicellate) whereas in T. subg. Phyllantherum the flowers are born directly on the bracts (sessile). The flower has three green or reddish sepals and usually three petals in shades of red, purple, pink, white, yellow, or green. There are six stamens at the center. There are three stigmas that are borne on a very short style, if any. The fruit is fleshy and capsule-like or berrylike. The seeds have large, oily elaiosomes.^[4][5]

Rarely, individuals have four-fold symmetry, with four bracts (leaves) and four petals in the blossom.^[6][7]

Trillium rivale has been segregated to a separate genus as Pseudotrillium rivale.

Ecology[edit]

Trilliums are myrmecochorous, with ants as agents of seed dispersal. Ants are attracted to the elaiosomes on the seeds and collect them and transport them away from the parent plant. The seeds of Trillium camschatcense and T. tschonoskii, for example, are collected by the ants Aphaenogaster smythiesi and Myrmica ruginodis. Sometimes beetles interfere with the dispersal process by eating the elaiosomes off the seeds, making them less attractive to ants.^[13]

Conservation[edit]  

Trillium grandiflorum (great white trillium)

Picking parts off a trillium plant can kill it even if the rhizome is left undisturbed.^[14] Some species of trillium are listed as threatened or endangered and collecting these species may be illegal. Laws in some jurisdictions may restrict the commercial exploitation of trilliums and prohibit collection without the landowner's permission. In the US states of Michigan^[14] and Minnesota^[15] it is illegal to pick trilliums. In New York it is illegal to pick the red trillium.^[16]

In 2009, a Private Members Bill was proposed in the Ontario legislature that would have made it illegal to in any way injure the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in the province (with some exceptions), however the bill was never passed.^[17] The rare Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) is also protected by law in Ontario, because of its decreasing Canadian population.^[18]

High white-tailed deer population density has been shown to decrease or eliminate trillium in an area, particularly white trillium.^[19]

Medicinal uses[edit]

Several species contain sapogenins. They have been used traditionally as uterine stimulants, the inspiration for the common name birthwort. In a 1918 publication, Joseph E. Meyer called it "beth root", probably a corruption of "birthroot". He claimed that an astringent tonic derived from the root was useful in controlling bleeding and diarrhea.^[20]

Culture[edit]  

A stylized white trillium is used as the emblem for the Canadian province of Ontario.

The white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) serves as the official flower and emblem of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is an official symbol of the Government of Ontario. The large white trillium is the official wildflower of Ohio.;^[21] in light of their shared connection to the flower, the Major League Soccer teams in Toronto and Columbus compete with each other for the Trillium Cup.

Trillium is the literary magazine of Ramapo College of New Jersey, which features poetry, fiction, photography, and other visual arts created by Ramapo students.^[22]

eastern spring beauty

Claytonia virginica, the Virginia springbeauty,^[1] eastern spring beauty, grass-flower^[2] or fairy spud, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Montiaceae.^[3] Its native range is eastern North America.^[1] Its scientific name honors Colonial Virginia botanist John Clayton (1694–1773).

Description[edit]

Springbeauty is a perennial plant, overwintering through a tuberous root. It is a trailing plant growing to 5–40 cm (2–16 in) long. The leaves are slender lanceolate, 3–14 cm (1 ¹⁄₄–5 ¹⁄₂ in) long and 0.5–1.3 cm (0.20–0.51 in) broad, with a 6–20 cm (2 ¹⁄₄–7 ³⁄₄ in) long petiole.

The flowers are 0.7–1.4 cm (0.28–0.55 in) in diameter with five pale pink or white (rarely yellow) petals,^[4] and reflect UV light.^[5] It has a raceme inflorescence, in which its flowers branch off of the shoot. The individual flowers bloom for three days, although the five stamens on each flower are only active for a single day.^[5] Flowering occurs between March and May depending on part of its range and weather. The seeds are between 0.2 and 0.3 cm (0.08 and 0.12 in) in diameter and a shiny black.^[4] The seeds are released from the capsule fruit when it breaks open.^[5] Elaiosomes are present on the seeds and allow for ant dispersal.^[4]

It is a polyploid, having 2n between 12 and 191 chromosomes. The largest number of chromosomes was observed in New York City.^[6][7]

Habitat and range[edit]

Springbeauty is found in the Eastern temperate deciduous forest of North America.^[8] It is noted for its abundance throughout many parts of its range, especially in forests. The plant can be found throughout many different habitat types including lawns, city parks, forests, roadsides, wetlands, bluffs, and ravines.^[4]

Hammond's yellow spring beauty[edit]

Hammond's yellow spring beauty, Claytonia virginica var. hammondiae, is a varietal with a very small range and population in a few areas of Northwestern New Jersey.^[9][10]

Uses[edit]

This plant has been used medicinally by the Iroquois, who would give a cold infusion or decoction of the powdered roots to children suffering from convulsions.^[11] They would also eat the raw roots, believing that they permanently prevented conception.^[12] They would also eat the roots as food,^[13] as would the Algonquin people, who cooked them like potatoes.^[14] Spring beauty corms along with the entire above ground portion of the plant are safe for human consumption.^[15]