Trillium

Family

Trilliaceae

Botanical Name

Trillium

Plant Common Name

Trinity Flower, Wakerobin, Wood Lily

General Description

Hauntingly beautiful natives of north temperate woodlands, trilliums are some of the most beloved spring wildflowers. Approximately 45 species make up this genus of hardy deciduous perennials. Most occur in eastern North America, but trilliums also are found in western North America and eastern Asia. Great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) is the official flower of the Canadian province of Ontario.

Appearing above ground for only a few weeks a year, trilliums spend most of the time as a "dormant" underground rhizome (lateral stem), which may branch to form clumps. In spring (or late winter), short upright stalks grow from the rhizome tips, each bearing a whorl of three leaves (which are technically bracts) and a single bloom. The lush, handsome leaves are elliptic, oval, lance-shaped, or quadrangular, and are sometimes mottled with silver or purple. In their center is borne a bloom with three often showy petals and three typically leafy sepals. The petals are usually upright or spreading; the sepals spreading or drooping. The flower may rest directly on the leaves or rise above them on a pedicel, which may be upright or nodding. Flower color is usually white, yellow, green, pink or purple. The flowers are followed by a berry which may be green and inconspicuous or brightly colored. The flowers and berries are often fragrant, sometimes unpleasantly so.

Great white trillium is the most commonly grown. One of the tallest and largest of its tribe, this eastern North American native bears voluptuous white flowers on erect pedicels in early or mid-spring. Its large unmarked leaves are mid-green. Also native to eastern North America, wake robin (T. erectum) produces green leaves and burgundy to red flowers with upright or nodding pedicels. The fly-pollinated flowers smell like rotting meat. Yellow wake robin (T. luteum) comes from the Smokey Mountains of the southeastern United States. Its large oval leaves are mottled and streaked with silver. The lemon-scented flowers have lemon-yellow petals and no pedicel. Numerous other species and hybrids are grown.

Trilliums can be difficult to propagate. Plants grown from seed can take many years to mature and flower. Although the rhizomes of clump-forming trilliums can be divided, success varies and plants may be slow to recover. Their difficulty of propagation makes trilliums relatively pricey. Unscrupulous retailers have been known to sell inexpensive wild-collected stock, so be sure plants are nursery-grown before purchasing them.

Culture and hardiness are species dependent. Although Asiatic and western North American species sometimes do poorly outside their native ranges, most Trillium are relatively easy to grow in deciduous shade. They typically break ground before the trees leaf out and go dormant after the canopy has closed. The soil should be rich and moist and have a thick covering of mulch or leaf litter. Most trilliums prefer acid to neutral soil though some do well in alkaline conditions. Deer and woodchucks can be problems. These lovely, delicate woodlanders are good choices for shaded borders and wildflower gardens.