Louisiana wakerobin is an herbaceous perennial wildflower in the trillium family (Melanthiaceae). It is native to Louisiana, Mississippi and eastern Texas, where they are found growing in low flatwoods, floodplains along streams, steep ravine slopes that lead to a floodplain and mixed pine-beech woods. The epithet is the Latinized name for Louisiana. Louisiana wakerobins are attractively planted in groups under trees in humus-rich moist well-drained soils in part to full shade. They suffer in too much sun. The bronzy green bracts (“leaves”) are held well above the ground and attractively mottled in a lighter green sometimes with an even lighter line dividing the leaf in two. The dark purplish brown petals are held upright in the center of the whorl of bracts. They smell a little like carrion and attract beetles, which are the pollinators. The fleshy fruit is a purplish, six-angled, ovoid capsule. Plant in drifts at the edge of the woods or near a stream where they will slowly spread by underground rhizomes. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious problems. Slugs and snails are occasional pests and leaf spot, rust and smut are occasional disease problems. It does not transplant well. More information on Trillium .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Deep shade (Less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 1 ft. 3 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Brown/Copper; Green; Variegated
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Whorled
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Ovate
Leaf margin
Entire; Undulate
Leaf value
Showy
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The leaves that are actually bracts, are sessile (stemless) and strongly mottled in dark and bronzy green, often with a central light strip and may fade with age. They are lanceolate-ovate, between two and four inches long and one to two inches wide, not glossy with margins entire to wavy. Appear in threes in a whorled pattern.
Flower color
Green; Purple/Lavender; Red/Burgundy
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Solitary
Flower shape
Cup; Star
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
The flower of this plant has no stem (sessile). It sits at the point where the leaves emerge from the scape (the correct botanical name for what looks like a stem connecting the leaves to the root). There is a whorl of three green sepals, then another whorl of the three purplish brown petals which are one and a quarter to two inches long and tend to curve over the center of the flower. It can smell like carrion. Blooms March to April
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit color
Red/Burgundy
Fruit type
Berry; Capsule
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
This plant's fruit is a fleshy, dark purple colored, 6 angled ovoid capsule less than an inch long. It has little or no odor. The seeds are dispersed by ants in the summer.
Stem color
Green; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
In the case of this plant the stem is really a scape. The round scape rises between five and a half to ten inches from the soil. It is green to reddish.