Joe O'Rourke

Trillium grandiflorum (White trillium, Great white trillium, Large-flowered trillium)

Flowering: Late April to mid May

The genus Trillium includes approximately 35 species in eastern North America. One of the showiest and most easily recognizable of these is the large-flowered or white trillium. Trillium, so named for its floral parts in threes (from the Latin trilix, meaning triple), also occurs in western North America (seven species), and eastern Asia (six species). Considered by most botanists to be a member of the lily family (some assign it to its own family, the Trilliaceae), the genus Trillium is unusual among the monocots in that its leaves are net-, rather than parallel-veined. Two subgenera are recognized: subgenus Trillium, the pedicellate trilliums, and subgenus Phyllantherum, the sessile trilliums. Trillium grandiflorum is pedicellate, that is, flowers are borne on a pedicel, a stalk above the leaves.

Morphology: The solitary flower is 2-3" wide, with 3 large, white petals. Petal bases are erect, then flaring to produce a showy flower that becomes pinkish with age, the brilliant white color changing to dull pinkish-purple before fading. The flower is subtended by 3 green sepals; each flower has six stamens with yellow anthers.

The three leaves are each 2-6" long, broadly ovate and pointed at the tip. Leaves are green, occasionally with maroon overtones when first emerging, later turning to a rich green. They may turn purplish or maroon before senescing.

Trillium grandiflorum fruit is a pale green berry that falls from the plant when mature. Seeds are dispersed by ants, which are attracted to the lipid-containing elaisome.

Habitat: Trillium grandiflorum occurs in rich well-drained soils in deciduous or mixed woods, particularly those dominated by sugar maple, white ash and basswood. They do best on a base-rich site. Scores of individuals may cover a sweeping expanse of the forest floor. According to Trillium experts Frederick and Roberta Case, the most vigorous populations are found in "young to early maturity stages of second-growth forest, declining with shading in old-growth."

Life history: Trillium grandiflorum is a long-lived herbaceous perennial; an individual plant may live for more than 3 decades in the forest understory. Leafy and flowering shoots arise from the underground rhizome of mature plants and flower in the early spring before the tree canopy leafs out. Fruit forms within weeks of flowering; the leaves persist until mid- to late summer.

Seeds exhibit double-dormancy and the single lanceolate cotyledon usually appears above ground the second spring after dispersal. For the next few years, a single, heart-shaped leaf appears. The familiar, three-leaved form follows, and an additional three or four years may pass before flowering. When enough energy has been stored in the growing rhizome, the individual plant will produce a flower.

Distribution: Trillium grandiflorum is the provincial flower of Ontario, Canada and occurs in 28 of the lower 48 United States. The species is found in Maine, New Hampshire and southern Quebec, across southern Ontario to Michigan, Wisconsin, and northeastern Minnesota and south to Georgia.

Protected Species Status: In New York state Trillium grandiflorum is considered to be "exploitably vulnerable." If populations of the species continue to be reduced by factors such as habitat loss, animal browsing, or over-collecting, the species may become "threatened."

White-tailed deer browsing definitely negatively impacts populations of Trillium grandiflorum, but it has also been shown that deer are long distance dispersers of Trillium seeds.

Local sites: Six-Mile Creek Wildflower Preserve, Mundy Wildflower Garden, Lick Brook

Basswood (Tilia americana) is one of the largest trees in eastern north America. It can be found in cool, moist, deep soils from Southern Manitoba to New Brunswick and south to Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Delaware. It grows at elevations below 3200' in its northern range and between 3000 and 5000' elevations in the southern Appalachians. Tilia americana has a deep and extensive lateral root system, supporting trees that can grow 70 to 80' tall with a 2 to 3' diameter. The largest Tilia americana is growing in Montgomery County, PA and is 94' tall and has an 8' DBH. The trees have an oval to rounded crown, and mostly have one continuous, straight bole. The canopy is very dense, creating deep shade. The extensive root system is known to improve the soil it grows in by absorbing nutrients deep in the soil and then depositing those nutrients back into the topsoil as its leaves decompose. Basswoods are known to sprout vigorously which is why the trees are often found in close proximity. They are not fire-resistant, but a forest fire will not kill them, it will just force them to re-sprout.

The basswood's large leaves are alternate, to 5" diameter and 8" long, unevenly heart shaped, dark green and smooth above and paler with scattered hairs below. Basswoods are not notable for fall color, though some trees turn yellow. The cotyledons of basswoods look nothing like their adult foliage. The two cotyledons are deeply palmately divided, and carpet the forest floor in spring. Leaves have been historically used as food for humans and livestock.

One of the most important trees for honey production, basswood flowers when the leaves are mature, usually in June here in the Finger Lakes. In flower, basswood is often found by listening to the buzz of bees collecting nectar from its blossoms. The fragrant yellow to white flowers grow in clusters and are subtended by a narrow, green, leaf-like blade.

Basswood fruits are 1/3" in diameter, globose, nutlike and have a hard outer shell with a small seed. The fruits remain attached well into winter, and are one of the easier ways to identify this tree. I had been walking past a filled in kettle hole for years when one winter I noticed the fruits of Tilia on the snow about 100' away which led me to find one of many large basswoods close to my home. Trees produce seeds starting at about 15 years and have been known to continue fruiting yearly for up to 85 years.

Tila americana bark is a very dark brown with continuous, narrow ridges going up the tree. Young bark is smooth and grey, dark green or red (the ones I looked at this weekend were all red) with long lenticels. The twigs are zig-zagged and don't have a terminal bud. The lateral buds are .2 to .25" and have two visible red scales, which are lopsided and mucilaginous. Tilia bark (both the European and North American species) is the best woodland source for rope, string, thongs or strips for sewing birch bark. To get the fibers to make into rope, the bark is soaked in water for two to four weeks until the fibers separate.

Tilia wood is well known for its carving properties. It is also used in furniture making, though it is then covered with a veneer of other woods. Historically the wood was used for pulp in early paper production.

 

Many people think of orchids as a southern species, reminiscent of large-flowered corsages from long-ago high-school proms. In fact, central New York has approximately 42 orchid species. Most of our orchids are small, but some New York state orchids rival our southern varieties in color and beauty (see Bob Wesley's article on the dragon's mouth orchid). This article profiles another genus of our lovely orchids, commonly called "ladies'-tresses".

The genus name Spiranthes comes from the way the flowers 'spiral' around the stem. These orchids are small, typically less than 12 inches tall, but the helix of whitish flowers makes them eye-catching and readily identifiable. Although immediately recognizable as one of the ladies'-tresses, the similar morphology and color has led to problems in differentiating them. Now accepted as encompassing just thirty species worldwide, the genus was once thought to include over 300 individual species. It is currently accepted that North America has about two dozen species, of which less than six species are in central New York.

Spiranthes lucida is the first ladies'-tresses you could be likely (and lucky enough) to see. It blossoms in our area by late June. I found it in Tully, NY, in an area with calcareous seeps, where subterranean limestone-enriched groundwater reaches the surface. This open, gravelly, limey-seep exposure is a favorite habitat for S. lucida. If you think you found it, look for the green nectar stripes on the tongue. None of our other Spiranthes have yellow centers or bloom this early.

Spiranthes casei is an uncommon species in central New York. When I first encountered it during an outing in Solon, NY, I did not know what it was but I was reasonably sure it was one I'd not seen before. Fortunately, friends more knowledgeable in orchids than I came to my rescue, and a return visit led us to identify it as S. casei. It was found at an abandoned ski resort and one of the highest elevations in our area. The soil was thin and dry.

Spiranthes cernua is the one most often encountered in our area. Commonly known as "nodding ladies'-tresses", it is an autumn species. I usually find it near the border of ponds but it is well known from other, drier, areas. Spiranthes cernua has flowers that are very white, not as creamy as are the other species in our area.

Early saxifrage is one of our earliest, showy, wildflowers. A native of the gorges around Ithaca, it loves rocky cliffs and dry ledges. Its name is from the Latin words saxum, meaning "rock" and frangere, "to break" and it was thought it helped disintegrate the rocks it grew upon. The common German name for early saxifrage is "Steinbrech" or "Stonebreak"(1). Some European species were reputedly thought capable of dissolving kidney stones.

Though listed as "common" in Weigand and Eames (4), and "frequent" by Wesley, et. al. (3), it may not be as plentiful as it once was. In her 1902 book "The Brook Book", Mary Rogers Miller observed "All up and down the rocky sides of the gorge, wherever a thin sheet of soil could be found to cling to, there was the saxifrage, by hundreds and almost by thousands. (2)"

Saxifraga virginiensis is in the Saxifrage (SAXIFRAGACEAE) family whose other locally common members include mitrewort and foamflower. Two others, no longer included in the same family but closely related, are grass of Parnassus and gooseberries in the PARNASSIACEAE and GROSSULARIACEAE families, respectively. Saxifraga virginiensis is four to ten inches tall with white flowers in clusters. Each star-like flower has five petals and ten yellow stamens. The single pistil has two styles. The flower stalk arises out of a rosette of somewhat fleshy leaves whose margins are coarsely toothed. The lower stem is very hairy and sticky. 

Two other Saxifraga species are listed for our area. Swamp saxifrage, S. pennsylvanica emerges a month or so later in our area and is commonly found in wet habitats (meadows, swamps, etc.). Yellow mountain saxifrage, S. aizoides, is very rare in this area. It emerges later still and prefers dripping wet, calcareous cliffs.

If you want to see early saxifrage in our area two good places are Upper Buttermilk Falls State Park and Lick Brook. It will be flowering by late April.

References:
Dana, Mrs. William Starr, How to Know the Wildflowers, p18-19. Dover Publications Inc, New York, 1963. First published in 1893, it has become a classic introductory wildflower book. She later published another classic How to Know the Ferns in 1907 under the name "Frances Theodora Parsons" after her first husband died and she remarried.
Miller, Mary Rogers, The Brook Book, p227. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1902. The author was lecturer on Nature Study at Cornell University at the time of publication.
F. Robert Wesley, Sana Gardescu, and P. L. Marks, Vascular Plant Species of the Cayuga Region of New York State, 2008.
Weigand, Karl M. and Eames, Arthur J, The Flora of the Cayuga Lake Basin, New York; Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station Memoir 92, p238. Ithaca, New York, 1926.

Porella platyphylla is a fairly common liverwort in our area and one of my favorites. It is also the only terrestrial member of the genus in central New York. Liverworts were once thought to be members of the division "Bryophyta", along with hornworts and mosses. Modern studies, however, place them in their own division "Marchantiophyta", with mosses ("Bryophyta"), hornworts ("Anthocerotophyta") and all vascular plants ("Polysporangiates") making up the other three. I found many references that consider P. platyphylloidea to be a separate species but Therien, et al.(4) concluded that the two species cannot reliably be distinguished so the older name takes precedence. Grout(3) assigned Porella to the family "Jungermanniaceae - The Scale Mosses" but today they belong to the family Porellaceae (in the order Jungermannieales), of which the genus Porella comprises by far the largest genera.

Liverworts are small, green plants that lack well-developed vascularization. They are green because, like most larger herbacious plants, they manufacture chlorophyll. They are small because they are gametophytes; that is, the sexual, dominant phase of a two-part lifestyle known as "Alternation of Generations". When a sperm from a liverwort male structure (antheridium) fuses with an egg cell located in a female structure (archegonium), the egg develops into a zygote. The zygote, in turn, develops into a structure that is different in form and function from the gametophyte. This new structure is called the sporophyte and it represents the other half of the lifestyle. In this phase spores are formed and each spore, under suitable conditions, can germinate and grow into a new gametophyte. Liverworts can also reproduce asexually, however, when pieces of the plant or specialized propagules break off and develop into new plants.

They, along with mosses and hornworts, are all found in our area although the hornworts are few in genera and more difficult to find. The taxonomic class name of liverworts is Hepaticae, a term derived from the liver-like (hepatic) shape of the leaf.

I often see Porella platyphylla in our forests and it always catches my attention. Although sometimes found on rocks, I usually see it growing on tree trunks. Radula spp. and Frulania spp., two of our other common liverworts, are associates(5), often found growing nearby. Porella platyphylla is a dull yellow-green color and its presence is welcome in winter where it stands out against a dark tree trunk and snowy forest floor. It literally does "stand out," for its pinnately branched stems form prostrate tiers that protrude away from the tree (see photo). Each individual stem consists of overlapping lobes and each leafy shoot is 2 to 4mm wide.

The next time you are "out'n'about" in your favorite woods, look for this interesting plant. Its distinct morphology makes it a good and easy find for learning about our liverworts.

References:

1. Conrad, Henry S., and Redfern, P. L. Jr., How to Know the Mosses and Liverworts, McGraw-Hill, 1979.
2. Hicks, Marie L., Guide to the Liverworts of North Carolina, Duke University Press, 1992.
3. Grout, A. J., Mosses with a Hand-Lens, Published by the author, Third Ed. 1924.
4. Therrien, James P. et al.,"Morphological and Genetic Variation in Porella platyphylla and P. platyphylloidea and Their Systematic Implications",The Bryologist, Vol. 101, No. 1 (Spring, 1998), pp. 1-19.
5. Schuster, R. M., Boreal Hepaticae, a Manual of the Liverworts of Minnesota and Adjacent Regions, Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd (1977).