was sold to me as Trillium chloropetalum, but if that is what it is, it is nothing like the T. chloropetalum I've seen before. This one has reflexed purplish-green petals atop green sepals, & bright yellow anthers. It was supposed to be sessile (stemless), but it has a short stem between flower & leaf. The plant is now three years old & bloomed for the first time this month (April).
It could very well be a cholorpetalum - the flowers resemble others I have seen as they can be quite variable in appearance. The photo is not clear enough to detect any marbleing on the leaves - is there any apparent? Does the flower have a pleasant fragrance? If yes to both, I'd go with chloropetalum or perhaps a hybrid with chloropetalum parentage. This also seems to be one of the more common species available for sale in this area. If not, my choice might be Trillium viride, but that is a sessile form also and I've not seen one in bloom.
Update on trying to track down what species this is.
Garrapata thought T. ovatum, which I have several of. The flowers are big & white aging to purple, usually long-lasting, & not a tenth as lax as these little purple-brown petals. The only trillium I could easily mistake for T. ovatum is T. grandiflorum. I grow those side-by-side & cannot detect a visual difference, but neither of them resemble any other of the species scattered about the shade gardens.
Pam thought it still could turn out to be T. chlorpetalum which it was sold as, because that one has such variation of bloom; but as this one is stemmed & chlorpetalum is stemless; this one is not mottle-leafed, & this one has petals lax to the point of being reflexed rather than T. chlorpetalum's upright "goblet" petals, it really can't be that. Pam's alternate thought was Trillium viride, which I've not seen, but I think it too is stemless with upright petals.
Sue thought it could be Catesby's trillium. T. catesbaei is another extremely varied species. It usually has far fatter petals than this one, & is usually white aging to pink. As this unidentified trillium is still a baby plant, the flowers could well be larger & fatter with more interesting color in the future, & after all turn out to be a Catesby. Catesby's does at least have the reflexing petals & the particuarly bright yellow anthers which Sue must've been judging by, but it also almost always droops its flower, & this unknown one keeps its flowers facing up.
The most striking feature is the bright yellow anthers; the second feature is the upturned flower's slightly reflexed petals that reach backward enough to have their petal-tips a bit behind the unreflexed green sepals.
I emailed the jpg to Dan & Dwayne who sold me the trillium, & asked if they knew what it could be, hoping they'd know exactly what it was that must've been in stock with a switched label. I went yesterday to the nursery & Dwayne immediately said it sure as heck wasn't T. chlorpetalum & he was sorry about the mix-up, & gave me T. chlorpetalum for free. I hadn't been hinting around for a freebie, but it was awfully nice to get one. From the jpg Dwayne hadn't immediately recognized what I'd gotten, it didn't seem to be anything Heronswood had intentionally stocked, so it must just have been something randomly mixed into the original seedstock & tubers by accident. He promised to look it up this week & will try to figure out what it is for me -- if he can. He does have a more or less complete trillium book to try from.
I rather like this humble trillium despite its relative plainness, but it is annoying me not to know the species.
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