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This easily identifiable spring ephemeral has a three-petalled, maroon flower on a recurved stem above large, green bracts that serve as leaves. The leaves and flowers emerge in April in Ohio, just in time for pollen-seeking flies and beetles. The richly colored flowers release an unpleasant odor that appeals to the carrion-loving insects. The seductive color and foul smell have inspired  conflicting names, such as red trillium, American true love, stinking Benjamin, ill-scented wakerobin, stinking Willie, and wet-dog trillium. In the wild, purple trilliums are often found in drier, acidic soils in open woods among colonies of laurel and rhododendron; however, they adapt easily to moist, humus-rich sand, clay, or loam. They thrive when  sited in spots that receive sunlight in early spring and shade as the tree canopy fills in. 

 

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, purple trillium is easy to identify because it's the only Trillium with a maroon-colored, stalked flower (erectum means "erect"). The flower occasionally appears in a white flower form, forma albidum, that looks similar to a rare erect, white-petalled form of drooping trillium (T. flexipes). Purple trillium may hybridize with drooping trillium when growing in close proximity.

 

Like other Trilliums, T. erectum reproduces with the help of ants. The petals wither in about 2-3 weeks, leaving a fleshy, berry-like fruit that is dispersed by ants. The fruit is on the end of a long stalk, which bends to the ground as the seeds ripen. As the seeds mature and expand, the pressure splits the capsule open on one side and the seeds fall to the ground in clusters. Each seed has an attached, light-colored appendage called a strophiole, which ants find to be irresistible. The ants collect the seeds and bring them back to their nests to feed the fatty strophiole to their young. The discarded seeds may end up 30 feet from the mother plant, thus expanding the colony. 

 

Purple trillium's native range includes eastern Canada and the eastern US, south to Georgia and west to Illinois. In Ohio, it's found mostly in the eastern third of the state. It is absent from the glaciated portions of Ohio, but it may be found in abundance at Hocking Hills, Conkles Hollow, Lake Katharine, and Shallenberger. 

 

Native habitats include open, dry or rich woods; mixed, moist, deciduous forests; and mixed forests. Great for woodlands and naturalizing. 

 

Plant Characteristics: 

Grows 8 - 24" tall. 

 

Prefers part sun or full shade (part to full sun in spring).

 

Grows in moist to drier conditions and humus-rich loamy, sandy, or clay soils that range from acidic to average, 

 

Blooms April-May with yellow anthers and rose-colored flowers about 2-1/2" wide. Rounded fruit capsules change from green to red or purple and eventually drop from the plant.

 

Widely spaced leaves roll inwardly along the length of the leaf, which is up to 7" long. 

 

Reproductive System: Male and female parts are on the same plant (monoecious). 

 

Wildlife Value:

Trillium species are host plants for the black-patched clepsis and American angle shade moths. Small mammals eat the berries.

 

Medicinal, Edible, and Other Uses:

The root was traditionally used as an aid in childbirth (another common name is bethroot, which is a corruption of “birth root."

 

 Native Americans made a tea from the roots to treat menstrual disorders, induce childbirth, and aid in labor.

 

The entire plant was made into a poultice used to treat tumors, inflammation, and ulcers.

 

Some sources recommend using the leaves (gathered before the emergence of the flowers) as an addition to salads or as a cooked vegetable.

 

Caution: The berries and roots are inedible and may be poisonous.

 

Resources:

Cornell University: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/trilliums

 

North Carolina Extension: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/trillium-erectum/

 

ODNR: https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/flowering-plants/red-trillium

 

USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/trillium-erectum#:~:text=Red%20trillium%20is%20found%20in,Photo%20by%20Mark%20Pistrang)

 

Wild Adirondacks: https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-purple-trillium-trillium-erectum.html

 

 

 

Trillium, Purple, Trillium erectum

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