Quest for Trilliums

Great White Trillium Trillium grandiflorum

As most anyone who likes to walk in the woods in spring is familiar with the Great White Trillium, I never tire of seeing them. Except for mutations, Trilliums have 3 leaves which are equally spaced at around the stem, 3 sepals and 3 petals. They are native to North American and Asia. There are 35 species in Eastern North American and none that are found in both Asia and North America.

When I travel to other parts of the country, I like to familiarize myself with birds and flowers that I am not familiar with that might be in the area of travel. As I did this prior to leaving on my trip in April to Missouri and Tennessee, I had charted Trilliums that are found in these areas but not in Michigan. As I have shared in previous posts about that trip I added some new Trilliums to my life list. Having the time to get out this spring in Michigan, this sparked a interest to see how many I could find in Michigan and add some to the grand total for the year. (Be sure to click on the title of this post to see the full gallery of Trilliums from this most recent quest)

Prairie Trillium Trillium recurveatum

As previously posted the Trillium Quest for me stared with the Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale) in April. As things warmed around West Michigan I added the Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) and Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum) here in the Hudsonville/Jenisen area. On May 1 went to pull Garlic Mustard at Trillium Ravine near Niles, which is owned by Michigan Nature Association. Here were three species including common Great White Trillium, Sessile Trillium (Trillium sessile) and the Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurveatum). If you live in southern or western Michigan be sure to add this fantastic preserve to your places to visit in early May of next year. You won’t be disappointed, Trilliums to meet the eye as far as you can see.

Red Trillium Trillium erectum

This past week the quest continued with a trip north to Traverse City and Leelanau areas in search of the Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). Wow, what a three day trip! I saw more Trillium grandiflorum in one place than one could imagine. I also came across many mycoplasma-infected T. grandiflorum resulting in green strips in the petals or petals that were all green and everything in between. Other mutations causing petal number variations were also found. On the second day while photographing infected flowers on a hillside along a road in Leelanau County, I found one Red Trillium. The Trilliums were so numerous in one woods near Christmas Cove, that you could not step without stepping on one to several plants. Simply indescribably breathtaking! As I was readying to leave the area and head home, I took a seasonal two-track to double back and shot a large area of Trillium just south of Traverse City, when I happened on several Red Trilliums. This area also contained a multi-petaled mutation that resembles a Peony flower.

mycoplasma-infected Trillium grandiflorum

Then this past Sunday we traveled to Dowagiac Woods, another MNA property to see the Drooping  Trillium (Trillium flexipes). Again success, as I was able to add one last species to my list this year. Dowagiac Woods is always worth the trip in May to see a myriad of spring wildflowers.

This year’s quest for these beautiful and varied three petaled flowers has netted me with 7 species in Michigan and 11 overall. Add to that the T. grandiflorum f. roseum from the Blue Ridge Mountains a few years ago and I now have a live list of 12 Trilliums in their natural habitats.

Be sure to check back in a few weeks as I am working on a Trillium poster that will be available.