LILY FAMILY 



LILIACEAE 



PURPLE TRILLIUM. WAKE ROBIN 



Trillium recurvatum Beck 



Trilliums are easily recognized by the fact that the 

 parts of the plant are grouped in threes. 



This is our commonest Trillium, occurring by the thousands 

 in some woodlots, and ranging from Ohio 

 to Minnesota, south to Mississippi and 

 Arkansas. It is also the least conspicuous 

 member of the genus. 



The stem is 6-i 8 inches high. The leaves 

 are petioled and mottled characteristically 

 light and dark green. 



The flower is sessile at the tip of the 

 stem. Its 3 green sepals are strongly re- 

 flexed, whereas the red- 

 purple petals are nearly 

 erect or spreading. The 

 anthers of the stamens 

 are much longer than the 

 filaments. The fruit is 

 6-winged at the top. 



The Large-flowered Trillium, Trillium 

 grandiflornm (Michx.) Salisb., is one ot the 

 most beautiful in the genus, and is theoreti- 

 cally protected by law in Illinois. However, 

 ravaging pickers and commercial enter- 

 prises in land have exterminated it from 

 many places. It occurs in woods from 

 Quebec to Minnesota and south to North 

 Carolina and Missouri, and blooms in May 

 and June. The stem is usually stout and 

 The leaves are broadly ovate, 2-6 inches long, 

 rather long pointed and sessile or nearly so. The lanceolate sepals 

 are 1-2 inches long and the white or pinkish, strongly veined petals 

 are still longer. The anthers are about one-halt inch long and the 

 filaments are shorter. The berry is black, slightly 6-lobed and nearly 

 I inch in diameter. 



The Sessile-leaved Trillium, Trillium sessile L., is otten called 

 Sessile-flowered Wake Robin because in this plant both the leaves 

 and flowers are sessile. The greenish purple petals are lanceolate, 

 erect and spreading, sepals are spreading, and the globose truit is 

 6-angled and slightly winged. This is a rare species of moist woods 

 especially in the north and the Illinois valley. 



8-18 inches high. 



60 



