Rhizomes horizontal, brownish, short, slender to stout, praemorse, not brittle. Scapes 1–3, round in cross section, 2.3–3.4+ dm, ± slender, smooth to scabrous below bracts. Bracts held well above ground, sessile; blade green to bluish green, weakly mottled, rarely unmottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, adaxial surface covered with numerous stomata easily visible under a lens, occasionally visible as tiny white dots to the naked eye, narrowly to broadly elliptic, 8–20.5 × 5–8 cm, not glossy, apex blunt to rounded-acute. Flower erect, odor of decayed fruit; sepals displayed above bracts, widely spreading, distal 1/2 often weakly declined, green, lanceolate-acute, 28–60 × 7–9 mm, margins entire, apex acute; petals long-lasting, erect to widely spreading, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, green, yellowish green, yellow, or variously purple streaked throughout, especially basally (rarely all purplish green), not spirally twisted, narrowly spatulate to linear-spatulate, 3.5–6.8 × 0.5–1.5 cm, widest above middle, thick-textured, base narrowed and thickened, ± forming claw, margins entire, apex obtuse, lacking nipple; stamens relatively straight-erect to slightly incurved, 15–25 mm; filaments brown-olive, 3–5.5 mm, dilated basally; anthers erect, straight, olive-brown or purplish, 8–21 mm, ± slender, dehiscence introrse-latrorse; connectives olive, straight, very slightly (± 0.5 mm) extended beyond sacs; ovary greenish basally, olive-purplish distally, ellipsoid to ovoid, deeply angled, 5–12 mm; stigmas spreading-erect, recurved, distinct, sessile, olive or purplish, subulate, 5–10 mm, somewhat fleshy. Fruits greenish white, odorless, ovoid, angled, 1–1.5 cm, somewhat pulpy, not juicy. 2n = 10.
More
Rhizome thick and stout; stem 2–4 dm at anthesis; lvs sessile, narrowly to broadly elliptic, blunt to acute, 8–12 cm, not or obscurely mottled, minutely white-speckled on the upper side by the thickly scattered stomates (unique among our spp.); fl sessile, with the odor of rotten apples; sep lanceolate, spreading or recurved, 3.5–5 cm; pet erect, narrowly spatulate, 4–6 cm, usually greenish or yellowish beyond the more purplish claw; filaments 3.5–5+ mm, basally dilated; connective shortly (to 1 mm) or scarcely prolonged; stigmas equaling or a little shorter than the distally sharply 6-ridged or-winged, ovoid-ellipsoid ovary; 2n=10. Rich woods and moist rocky slopes; w. Ill. and e. Mo. Apr., May.
Home
