April 2010
Trillium, Most Beloved Spring Ephemeral
Leonard J. Buck Garden, Far Hills, New Jersey
The trillium, a simple, graceful perennial and one of the most familiar and beloved of spring blooming ephemerals, is gracing the woodlands in the Leonard J. Buck Garden.
Native to temperate regions of North America and East Asia, trillium contains 40 - 50 species of rhizomatous, deciduous perennials.
The origin of the name trillium is based on the Latin tres, meaning three. The parts of a trillium flower occur in threes or multiples of threes: three leaves (technically bracts), three flower petals, three sepals, and six stamens. The fruit is a triple chambered berry with many seeds.
Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants and mice. Some of its common names you may have heard are: toadshade for its resemblance to a toad-sized umbrella, wake-robin for its appearance with the first robins, and birthroot for its medicinal uses during childbirth.
Every trillium is either sessile (the flower sits directly on top of its whorled leaves), or pedicellate (the flower is raised on a short stalk). Sessile trilliums usually have mottled foliage, while pedicellate trilliums have showier flowers.
A few North American trilliums growing in Buck Garden are: Trillium grandiflorum, Trillium erectum, Trillium stamineum, Trillium sessile, Trillium simile, and Trillium luteum.
The most common trillium species growing on the east coast of North America is T. grandiflorum, great white trillium, the most popular and showy of all trilliums. It is pedicellate, growing 12 – 18 inches tall. The 2 – 4 inch wide flowers stretch above the broadly handsome, unmottled light green leaves. Undulating pure white flower petals gradually fade to pink after a long season of display. Very pretty in drifts!
T. erectum, another common trillium species on the eastern coast, grows wild in moist, rich woods. It usually has dark reddish-purple flowers, but occasionally they are white. The common name “Stinking Benjamin” refers to the sometimes foul odor of the flower which attracts carrion flies for pollination. It requires some sniffing to detect the “wet dog” odor. I prefer the common name purple or red trillium. This big two-footer boasts a striking two and a half inch wide flower the color of dried blood. This trillium is easy to grow except in heavy, poorly-drained soils.
The south’s most distinctive sessile trillium is T. stamineum, also known as propeller toadshade or twisted trillium due to its horizontal, narrow, twisted petals. Twisted trillium grows 12 to 18 inches tall, bears wide, softly mottled leaves, capped by a spidery, sessile bloom with outspread chocolate-red, propeller-like petals. The anthers and sometimes the purple-tinged sepals may curl as well. The specific epithet stamineum, an adjectival form of the word stamen, calls attention to the prominent stamens of this species.
T. sessile, also known as toadshade, is the northernmost sessile species east of the Rockies. It is the first sessile-flowered Trillium species named by Linnaeus (hence the specific epithet). It forms an upright clump reaching 12 to 15 inches in height with an 18 inch spread. The stalkless maroon flower, which may have a spicy odor, sits directly above three whorled leaves and appears closed. Its beautiful green leaves unfold with gray marbling that eventually disappears.
T. simile, sweet white wake robin, is native to parts of the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern United States. Its small clumps are typically found on very rich soils of slopes and coves over calcareous rock, often in or near seepage areas. Sweet wake-robin is very attractive with large, erect, creamy- white, outward facing flowers with a green-apple fragrance and a black eye. The flower is characteristically more funnel-shaped with the ends of the petals flaring sideways.
T. viride var.
luteum, lemon toadshade or yellow trillium, is one of two species that produces yellow flowers, but this one has a lemony scent. Yellow trillium is native in southern and Midwestern areas. Its large rhizomes seldom produce more than one or two stems. The two-inch flower features erect yellow petals and narrow greenish sepals and appears stalkless atop the center of the leaf whorl. Six-inch leaves show a modest gray marbling that may disappear with maturity.
Trilliums are the royalty of the woodland garden. They like living beneath deep rooted trees and shrubs where there is less competition for moisture and nutrients. They are long-lived plants that bloom faithfully year after year.
Familiar and beloved, they are diverse, yet distinctive; they are trilliums.
- Tricia Scibilia, interpretive gardener, Leonard J. Buck Garden, Somerset County Park Commission:
www.somersetcountyparks.org
**All photos by Tricia Scibilia unless otherwise noted
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