Sunday, February 20, 2011



giant wake-robin / giant trillium
Trillium chloropetalum
Melanthiaceae (formerly Liliaceae)

We only saw trilliums in two sections of our hike, one by the waterfall and the other down a heavily-shaded, steep ravine. I wish my last photo turned out better, but I'm posting it because I want to show the yellow center of this new shoot. It looked like the yellow spadix of calla lilies, but I suspect it was just the covering of what would end up being the dark purple parts. Can anyone help direct me to a website that illustrates the different parts of the trillium plant? And, like with star-lilies, this plant has been moved from the lily family to the false hellebore family.

ps 04/26/11 - I always like seeing what other people have in their neck of the woods, especially when I can compare and learn more about what is closer to me. Found this trillium post from Ohio, my ol' stomping grounds: Midwest Native Plants, Gardens, and Wildlife.

3 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

Those are pretty. The trilliums I knew from my youth in Wisconsin were 3-petaled white springg flowers. :)

camissonia (Arleen) said...

Katie, I looked up Trillium chloropetalum in the book WILD LILIES, IRISES, and GRASSES: GARDENING WITH CALIFORNIA MONOCOTS, and here's the description: "The flowers, which are large and sessile, range from white, pink , or red through purple-brown, amber, and green to almost yellow. Some have thin petals while others have large, wide petals with a waxy texture." The dark red parts of the plant in your photo matches up exactly with the line drawing of the trillium's flower in the book. A beautiful native that we don't encounter down here in SoCal.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Arleen, thanks for looking that up. Is the line drawing labeled? If so, could you take a pic and send to me via e-mail? Don't know if you're aware, but I embed links in the names below my pictures. The Calflora site (usually in the scientific names) shows distribution in CA. Looks like Santa Barbara Co. is the furthest south this plant grows. You're in Riverside Co., no?