Rank Species | Genus Trillium Higher classification Tri flower | |
Similar Tri flower, Trillium vaseyi, Trillium cernuum, Trillium simile, Trillium catesbaei | ||
Trillium rugelii, the illscented wakerobin, or southern nodding trillium, is a spring flowering perennial plant which is native to parts of the southeastern United States. Like a few other trillium species (T. catesbaei, T. cernuum, T. vaseyi and some T. flexipes), it hangs its flower below the leaves. It prefers to grow near streams in humus-rich soil under the shade of deciduous trees. It is in the Great Smoky Mountains, Fernbank Forest, Steven's Creek Heritage Preserve, and other places of the Piedmont and southern Appalachian Mountains in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
In the past, many authors cited specimens as T. cernuum, which has a similar though smaller flower with shorter stamens and thinner petals. Also, T. cernuum grows farther north and is less robust.
Status
As of 2009 the species is endangered in Tennessee Georgia, and other parts of the United States.
