ID requested for Trillium cf. chloropetalum
Jane McGary (Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:29:05 PDT)

Regarding the question about red-flowered Trillium in California's
Redwood National Park, I recently posted a query about the taxonomic
status of Trillium kurabayashii, a red trillium from around the
Oregon-California border commonly grown in gardens here in Portland.
I learned that the name T. angustipetalum is now applied to
populations in some parts of California, and CalFlora's website seems
to imply that T. kurabayashii has been sunk in that name. I am
growing a red trillium from Tuolumne County (one of the T.
angustipetalum locales) and several "kurabayashii" from Portland
gardens. The latter eventually grow larger. I received some very
interesting private correspondence from Larry Neel, who sent me
photos of a remarkable number of color variants of both red trilliums
and T. chloropetalum that he photographed in the wild. It still isn't
clear to me whether T. kurabayashii is a currently accepted taxon, or
sunk in angustipetalum, or what the difference between the two is
other than size and distribution. In any case, these two names cover
any red trillium that might be in Redwood National Park, and T.
chloropetalum appears now to be restricted to populations with
sessile, whitish (greenish, yellowish) flowers and red-mottled
leaves. The other western white trilliums do not have sessile flowers.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

At 08:30 AM 4/2/2013, you wrote: