Trillium

Toad Trillium Trillium cuneatum		Wake Robin Trillium Trillium erectum
Yellow Trillium Trillium luteum

Pictures Taken April 23, 2001

The trillium is easily identified by its three-part leaves and flowers. (Trillium comes from the Latin triplum or triple.) This plant has several common names. Among them are Toad Trillium, Sweet Betsy (because of the spicy-scented flowers), and Toadshade. The scientific name is Trillium cuneatum. The flowers are usually purple, but there are yellow varieties.

Trilliums belong to the Lily family. There are about 30 species, mostly from North America, but a few from Japan and the Himalayas. Here in the Southern Appalachians there are about 17 species. When you see a trillium in bloom, be impressed. It takes about six years from seed for a trillium to produce its first bloom. According to Donald and Lillian Stokes in their delightful book, A Guide to Enjoying Wildflowers, the seeds of most trilliums are dispersed by ants. When the fruit or capsule of the trillium matures in August, it splits open and releases the seeds. The seeds have a material attached to them called the strophiole. This is attractive to the ants, which carry the seeds to their nest. After eating the strophiole they discard the seeds in the vicinity of their nest. The seeds must then overwinter before they germinate. In the spring they germinate, develop a small root, then overwinter. The second growing season, the seedling produces a single rudimentary leaf. In the third year the plant produces a single true leaf. This repeats for the next one or two years. Then, finally, the plant produces three leaves. After one or two more years of three-leaf shoots, the plant produces its first flower.

There are three species of trillium fairly common this area; all of them will emerge about mid-April. These are the Red Trillium or Stinking Willie (Trillium erectum), which smells like a wet dog; the Painted Trillium Trillium undulatum, with a red blaze on its white petals; and the Large Flowered White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).

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