Description
During the complex evolution of the present day Japanese Trillium species, various ancient species have interbred to produce today’s modern taxa. These are not considered hybrids, they are now pure, true-breeding species in their own right. In some cases, the ancient species have become extinct and only their footprints exist, as components of the modern species. A parallel is the way that a small percentage of genes from the now extinct Neanderthal exist in modern humans yet we consider Homo sapiens a true species.
Trillium have been thoroughly investigated by many workers in Japan in order to trace their lineage and many scientific papers on this exist (we have now added many of these to our members area). Trillium channellii is a fairly recently recognised plant which, like the related T. tschonoskii, contains elements of extinct species. T. channellii inherits half of its genes from something very close to the present day T.camschatcense. (in this case, “almost T. camschatcense” appears to have been mother) along with a quarter each from two extinct species.
The outcome of all of this complexity is that T. channellii is a tetraploid Trillium which has a lovely large flower of pure white. In appearance it resembles T. camschatcense (to an extent) and it shares with that species the feature of having a purple-black tip to the nose of the ovary, though with sideways-facing flowers it has a very different poise. Incidentally, not every sideways facing specimen of T. camschatcense is automatically T. channellii, they have a very different genetic makeup.
T. channellii is vigorous and fertile. It does well in the garden, flowering regularly once it is established, but do please be patient and give it a year to settle. Half shade in a humus-rich soil is perfect.
A rare species which we are only likely to have available in small numbers, every now and again.
