Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 65 



PAINTED TRILLIUM (Trillium undulatum) has 



sharply pointed, wavy-edged, waxy-white petals with 

 crimson V-shaped marks at the bases. The ovate 

 leaves are sharply pointed and petioled. It is a com- 

 mon species from Quebec to Ontario and southwards. 



The Trilliums may rank as among the few of our 

 most eagerly sought wild flowers. The Arbutus, the 

 Moccasin Flowers, Arethusa, Pogonia and Fringed 

 Gentian all seem to possess sulftle charms that draw 

 even the novice or those not at all interested in 

 botany to seek them. To be sure they are all beauti- 

 ful, but then there are quantities of other flowers that 

 are beautiful and that are passed by without notice 

 as we pursue our search for these treasures. Most 

 of these prizes have a certain peculiarity of form or 

 a waxy-white purity to the flowers that appeals to us 

 more than does the ordinary texture and common- 

 place appearance of the general run of our beautiful 

 flowers. 



The Painted Trillium is usually regarded as the 

 most beautiful of the genus. Certain it is that it 

 is the most abundant. It is more gregarious than the 

 others, and we often find large beds of them with 

 their dainty, waxy-white, wavy-edged flowers swaying 

 above the deep green background formed by their 

 broad, whorled leaves. They grow most profusely 

 along the banks of woodland brooks and in cool, 

 moist glens. You will find them most abundant dur- 

 ing the latter part of May soon after the Wood 

 Thrush, that frequents the same locality, makes his 

 appearance from the South. They are always asso- 

 ciated in my mind with these birds and with Water 

 Thrushes that I have often watched as they daintily 

 threaded their way among the numerous plant stalks, 

 entirely concealed above by the numerous leaves, 

 and visible only by placing the head close to the 

 ground. 



