LILIACEAE 



LILY FAMILY 



SNOW TRILLIUM. DWARF WHITE TRILLIUM 



Trillium nivale Riddel 1 



The Snow Trillium is one of the very earliest of large spring 

 flowers. It is distributed in woods from Pennsylvania and Ohio 

 to Minnesota, south to Kentucky and west to Nebraska, but 

 within this region it is of quite local 

 occurrence, being entirely absent 

 from some localities and in other 

 places forming large and conspicuous 

 patches in the woods. 



The stem is 2-6 inches high and 

 the 3 leaves are petioled. The pedun- 

 cle is sometimes erect and sometimes 

 bent or curved beneath the leaves. 

 The 3 sepals are green and the 3 

 petals pure white. The anthers of 

 the 6 stamens are about as long as 

 the filaments. The fruit is a 3-lobed 

 berry. 



The Drooping Trillium, Trillium 

 declinatum (Gray) Gleason, is another 

 white Trillium which occurs in woods 

 and blooms in May and June. It is 

 larger than the Snow Trillium, the 

 stem being about I toot high. Leaves 



are 3-5 inches long and about as broad. They have a short point and 

 are narrowed at the base but are very nearly sessile. The peduncle 

 is lyi-iyi inches long and either horizontal or bent downward. The 

 unpleasantly scented flower has 3 white, oblong-ovate petals and 3 

 green sepals about one-half inch long, filaments of the 6 stamens 

 half as long as the anthers, and a white or pinkish ovary. 



k dainty inhabitant of rich woods but rare in Illinois is the 

 Nodding Trillium, Trillium cernuum L., in which the horizontal or 

 declined stem hides the white flowers beneath the broad leaves. 

 Petals and the ovary may be pinkish, and the filaments are nearly 

 or exactly equal to the anthers in length. The fruit is a red-purple 

 ovoid berry. The range of this species is from Newfoundland to 

 Manitoba and south to Georgia and Missouri. It should not be 

 contused with the larger, strong-odored T. declinatum^ above. 



Nearby a scarlet creeper trails a fence, 



Nearer a hawthorn tree 



Drops its wee crimson apples into the lush green grass. 



The Golden Boicl — ^Mary McMillan 



61 



