Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum
Aliso 4: 88. 1958.
Petals greenish white to deep red or purple, lacking any yellow pigments.
Phenology: Flowering late winter–spring (late Feb–early or mid Apr).
Habitat: Variable habitat: edges, openings in and along ravines in redwood forest, thickets and tangles of cut-over forest, stream flats in deciduous woods, chaparral brushland, open wooded slopes on dunes, brushy islands in surprisingly open grasslands, but usually where soil remains moist most of the season
Elevation: 0–600 m
Discussion
Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum occurs in and around the San Francisco Bay region.
The epithet “giganteum” is appropriate, considering this variety’s large size. In the populations that I have observed, it was more robust and generally larger than var. chloropetalum. Narrow-petaled forms of var. giganteum occasionally occur in mixed populations with the wider-petaled ones, and in a few places almost exclusively. J. D. Freeman (1975) suggested that these could represent the “undiluted” var. giganteum, free from influences of hybridization, as the type specimen has narrow petals.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
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