Trillium vaseyi
Trillium vaseyi is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a spring-flowering perennial plant found only in the southeastern United States. The specific epithet vaseyi honors the American plant collector George Richard Vasey, not to be confused with his father Dr. George Vasey. The species is commonly called Vasey's Trillium. It is also known as the sweet wakerobin, sweet trillium, or sweet beth.
Description
Trillium vaseyi has among the largest flowers in genus Trillium, with red petals up to 7 cm long. It grows in rich woods, sometimes on riverbanks but other times on steep slopes.Taxonomy
Trillium vaseyi was named and described by the American botanist Thomas Grant Harbison in 1901. The type specimen was collected in the mountains of North Carolina in 1878. In his description, Harbison mentions Dr. George Vasey but in fact the type specimen was collected by his son George Richard Vasey.In 1938, Lane Barksdale described Trillium vaseyi var. simile based on a type specimen collected by the American botanist Henry Allan Gleason in 1904. Although Gleason stated the flower stalk was "declined or cernuous", that of the type specimen is erect., Trillium vaseyi var. simile is a homotypic synonym for Trillium simile.
Trillium vaseyi is a member of Trillium subgenus Trillium, commonly called the erectum group, seven of which occur in the southeastern United States: Trillium cernuum, Trillium erectum, Trillium flexipes, Trillium rugelii, Trillium simile, Trillium sulcatum, and Trillium vaseyi. Natural hybrids are common within this group.