Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Liliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trillidium undulatum
FAMILY
Trilliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Trillium.
You may enjoy Trillium in the South by Will Stuart.
Learn more about Painted Trillium from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The leaves are distinctly petiolate, often ca. 1 cm long, and the leaves have a blue-green cast; populations often have a large number of "monillidiums" – 1-leaved juvenile plants. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trillium undulatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trillidium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Trilliums of Georgia. Tipularia (Patrick, 2007)
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-03-010:
Trillium undulatum FAMILY Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium undulatum
COMMON NAME:
Painted Trillium, Striped Wake-robin
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_trun_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm120426_826
April Yancey County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Occasionally a trillium has four leaves!
)
JK Marlow jkm120426_828
April Yancey County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm230420_2716
April Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230420_2718
April Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm250423_2575
April Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_undulatum_03100
April Greenville County SC
Sepals spreading, wine red to dull maroon green, rarely white-striated, per Flora of North America.
)
Harry Davis hld1558_crw_6419
May NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Filaments are white; anthers yellow or purple; ovary white, not angled, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0505f_21
May Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Of all of our trilliums, this is the best adapted to acid soils, per Weakley's Flora.
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_undulatum_5702
May Mitchell County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_undulatum_73370
May NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_t_undulatum_lake_w_16
May Union County GA
Lake Winfield Scott
)
Will Stuart wil211240029_6c6aaeec58
May Avery County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Petals usually white with an inverted red "V" near the base, often undulate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507n_17
July Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Leaves are clearly petioled and acuminate, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
Tim Spira tpstundulatum
July
Berry scarlet, ovoid to ellipsoid, 1.2-2.2cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Gill Newberry gn081223_0862
August NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Fruits quickly deciduous upon ripening, scarlet, obscurely 3-angled to cylindrical, juicy, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm0508b_07
August Transylvania County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
Leaves distintly petiolate, often ~ 1cm long, and have a blue-green cast, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm0508c_15
August Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Petioles 3-20 mm long; pedicels 1.5-5.8 cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trillidium undulatum
FAMILY
Trilliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trillium undulatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trillidium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Trilliums of Georgia. Tipularia (Patrick, 2007)
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trillium undulatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-03-010:
Trillium undulatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium undulatum
1558
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Acidic soils of ridges, slopes, and bog margins, mostly at high elevations and often associated with Rhododendron, Tsuga, Pinus, or Picea, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & NC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
A single terminal whorl of 3 leaves
Petioles 3-20mm long
FLOWER:
Spring
White
(with inverted red "V")
Pedicel 1.5-5.8cm long
Flowers above the leaves
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
3 petals
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
Red, scarlet
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p040
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p158
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p161
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p124
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p095
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p168
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p022
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p426
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p380
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p433
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p459
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p016
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".