Trillium rugelii

Southern Nodding Trillium
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Melanthiaceae
Genus:	Trillium
Species:	T. rugelii
Binomial name
Trillium rugelii Rendle, 1901

Trillium rugelii, the 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.

References

• Case, Frederick W. and Case, Roberta B. (1997) Trilliums. ISBN 0-88192-374-5