Editing Trillium erectum (section)

==Description==
''Trillium erectum'' is a [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]], [[flowering plant]] that persists by means of an underground [[rhizome]]. Like all trilliums, it has a [[Whorl (botany)|whorl]] of three [[bract]]s (leaves) and a single [[trimerous]] flower with three [[sepal]]s, three [[petal]]s, two whorls of three [[stamen]]s each, and three [[carpel]]s (fused into a single [[Ovary (botany)|ovary]] with three [[Stigma (botany)|stigmas]]).{{r|FNA:133668|RHS A-Z}} It grows to about {{convert|40|cm|0|abbr=on}} in height with a spread of {{convert|30|cm|0|abbr=on}}. The petals are dark reddish brown, maroon, purple, pale yellow, or white.{{r|FNA:242101991}} The ovary is dark purple to maroon regardless of petal color. If the flower is successfully [[Pollination|pollinated]], the petals wither, leaving behind a fruit that ripens to a dark red berry-like capsule, 1 to 1.5&nbsp;centimeters long.<ref>{{cite web |title=Purple Trillium (''Trillium erectum'') |url=http://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-purple-trillium-trillium-erectum.html |website=Adirondacks Forever Wild |access-date=8 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gros d'Aillon |first1=F. |title=''Trillium erectum'' Linnaeus |url=https://www.labunix.uqam.ca/~fg/MyFlora/Liliaceae/Trillium/Erectum/erectum.e.shtml |access-date=8 July 2019}}</ref>

===Species Complex===
''Trillium erectum'' shares many anatomical details with other North American Trillium species.{{sfnp|Barksdale|1938}}{{sfnp|Case|Case|1997}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Patrick|first1=Tom|title=Trilliums of Georgia|journal=Tipularia|date=2007|volume=22|pages=3–22}}</ref> These species hybridize in the wild, which has led some researchers to group them into a [[species complex]], specifically, a [[syngameon]] of [[semispecies]].<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Millam|first=KC|date=2006 |title=The Trillium erectum species-complex (Melanthiaceae): Insights from molecular systematics and biogeography|publisher=University of Wisconsin at Madison}}</ref><ref name="Stoehrel 2010">{{cite thesis |type=MSc |last=Stoehrel |first=Christina Pampkin |date=November 2010 |title=A study of the systematic relationships between members of the ''Trillium erectum'' complex |url=https://ncwildflower.org/TrilliumPaper.pdf |publisher=Western Carolina University}}</ref>

The combinations of traits that are supposed to differentiate members of the complex from one another are sometimes inconsistently combined in wild populations. This has led some researchers to declare the individual species invalid, and refer to the species complex collectively as ''T.&nbsp;erectum'' (''[[sensu lato]]'').<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Friesner|first1=Ray C.|title=The genus Trillium in Indiana|journal=Butler University Botanical Studies|date=1929|volume=1|pages=29–40|url=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/botanical/vol1/iss1/4}}</ref> Others acknowledge the existence of [[introgression]] and [[hybrid swarm]] formation between some or all complex members, but maintain that the named species within the complex represent convenient groups with common features.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Patrick|first1=Thomas S.|title=Trillium sulcatum (Liliaceae), a new species of the southern Appalachians|journal=Brittonia|date=1984|volume=36|issue=1|pages=26–36|jstor=2806287|doi=10.2307/2806287|s2cid=85116255}}</ref>

Members of the ''T.&nbsp;erectum'' complex have flowers with the following commonalities: (1)&nbsp;petals that are coarse and stiff in texture (in contrast with the wavy edges of other species), (2)&nbsp;petals that do not change color after pollination, (3)&nbsp;petals with prominent, netted veins, (4)&nbsp;fleshy [[Stigma (anatomy)|stigmas]] that are attached to the [[ovary (botany)|ovary]] separately, without a common [[style (botany)|style]], and (5)&nbsp;conspicuous, deeply-ridged ovaries.

North American members of the ''T.&nbsp;erectum'' species complex:
* ''[[Trillium cernuum|T.&nbsp;cernuum]]''
* ''T.&nbsp;erectum''
* ''[[Trillium flexipes|T.&nbsp;flexipes]]''
* ''[[Trillium rugelii|T.&nbsp;rugelii]]''
* ''[[Trillium simile|T.&nbsp;simile]]''
* ''[[Trillium sulcatum|T.&nbsp;sulcatum]]''
* ''[[Trillium vaseyi|T.&nbsp;vaseyi]]''

The Asian species ''T.&nbsp;camschatcense'', resembles the North American ''T.&nbsp;flexipes'' very closely, and itself has close relatives with similar floral features. However, trillium [[speciation]] in this group of Asian species is characterized by differences in chromosome number, with hybrids more definitively distinguishable from parent species by [[karyotype]].
* ''[[Trillium apetalon|T.&nbsp;apetalon]]''
* ''[[Trillium camschatcense|T.&nbsp;camschatcense]]''
* ''[[Trillium channellii|T.&nbsp;channellii]]''
* [[Trillium × hagae|''T.'' × ''hagae'']]
* ''[[Trillium smallii|T.&nbsp;smallii]]''
* ''[[Trillium tschonoskii|T.&nbsp;tschonoskii]]''