Genus (Trillium)
Trilliums derive their generic name from the fact that all their parts are arranged in threes; three leaves, three petals, three sepals, and a three-parted stigma. The common name of Wake Robin was probably early given because these flowers appear at an early date. As a matter of fact they do not bloom until weeks after the robins have returned to the Northern States. All the purple trilliums have an unpleasant odor resembling that of putrid meat; as they are largely dependent for fertilization upon certain carrion flies, it is very probable that their peculiar color is for the purpose of an added lure for these insects.
Purple Trillium; Birthroot; Ill-scented Wake Robin (Trillium erectum) has three purplish-brown petals and three sepals; six stamens exceeding in length the stout spreading stigma. Flower solitary, rising on a short pedicel above the whorl of broad, ovate, pointed, and short petioled leaves. This trillium ranges in height from 6 to 15 inches. It flowers in April and May, in rich woods from Quebec to Ont. and southward.
(A) Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) is the largest of the genus in all respects and is one of the best known and most common species. It can be looked for in any damp, rich woods during May or June. Usually they grow in colonies and it is an exception when one finds a single plant without others being in sight. The stem of this species is from 10 to 18 inches in height; the waxy-white petals are from 1½ to 2 in. in length; as they grow older the color changes to a delicate pink and they curve gracefully backward.
The flower is on a short pedicel above the whorl of broad, ovate-pointed, and short petioled leaves. Found from Vt. to Minn. and southward to N. C. and Mo.
(B) Nodding Trillium (T. Cernuum) is quite similar to, but smaller than, the last species. Its blossom is either white or pink and is on a curved pedicel that often bends so as to place the flower beneath the whorl of leaves; the edges of the petals are quite wavy. This demure, bashful little trillium is found from Newfoundland and Man. south to Pa. and Mich.
Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum) has sharply pointed, wavy-edged, waxy-white petals with crimson V-shaped marks at the bases. The ovate leaves are sharply pointed and petioled. It is a common species from Quebec to Ontario and southward.
The Painted Trillium is usually regarded as the most beautiful of the genus. Certainly it is the most abundant. It is more gregarious than others, and we often find large beds of them with their dainty, waxy-white, wavy-edged flowers swaying above the deep green background formed by their broad, whorled leaves. They grow most profusely along the banks of woodland brooks and in cool, moist glens. You will find them most abundant during the latter part of May soon after the wood thrush, that frequents the same locality, makes his appearance from the South. They are always associated in my mind with these birds and with water thrushes that I have often watched as they daintily threaded their way among the numerous plant stalks, entirely concealed above by the numerous leaves, and visible only by placing the head close to the ground.
(A) Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) (European).
The scape, rising from a coated bulb, is from 6 to 12 in. high; at the top is a loose, terminal cluster of from four to eight blossoms. The perianth is divided into six waxy-white sepals, rather greenish on the outside, and with three to seven green nerves; six stamens and a three-sided stigma. The leaves are long, linear, and channeled. Found as an escape, from Me. to Va.