Salmon Mountains Wakerobin
Trillium ovatum subsp. oettingeri –> Trillium oettingeri
A new paper recently published by the California Botanical Society’s journal Madroño (Vol. 70, No. 3, pp. 158–171, 2023) describes why Trillium ovatum subsp. oettingeri has been elevated to Trillium oettingeri based on DNA sequence data (partial sequences of the plastid ycf1 and ycf2 genes from multiple samples).
The two species differ in proportional size of flower parts (larger in T. ovatum) and floral scent (more intense in T. ovatum). To update the taxonomy, T. oettingeri (Munz & Thorne) Renner comb. nov. is proposed. With a restricted range in the Klamath Mountains and part of the Cascade Range in northern California, T. oettingeri is a species of potential conservation concern.
Plants of T. oettingeri are distinct in having nodding to reflexed flowers (vs. erect), much narrower petals and sepals, shorter petals and sepals, shorter anthers, and reduced pedicel lengths.
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