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PURPLE TRILLIUM. 
“Few of our indigenous plants surpass the Trillium in elegance 
and beauty, and they are all endowed with valuable medicinal pro¬ 
perties. The root of the Purple Trillium is generally believed to be 
the most active. Tannin and Bitter Extract form two of its most 
remarkable ingredients.” So says that intelligent writer on the 
medicinal plants of North America, Dr. Charles Lee. There are 
three of the dark flowered Trillium enumerated by Gray, two of 
which appear to be common to our Canadian soil, T. erectum and 
T. sessile. The latter is smaller, and often the dull chocolate colour 
of the pointed petals assumes a livid greenish hue. It is earlier in 
flowering, appearing at the beginning of May, at the same time with 
T. nivale, the “Dwarf White” or “Snowy Trillium.” 
Under cultivation the flowers of all the species become very 
ornamental; they require black leaf mould and moderate shade, 
and, if left to grow undisturbed, increase and continue to flower, 
year after year, in the borders or shrubbery. 
The seeds when ripe are easily obtained; they are hard and 
bony, several in each division of the three celled capsule. The 
roots of these plants are thick, wrinkled, fleshy, and contain the 
medicinal principle described by Dr. Lee. 
