Trillium erectum
| Trillium erectum | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Melanthiaceae |
| Genus: | Trillium |
| Species: | T. erectum |
| Binomial name | |
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Trillium erectum L. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Synonymy
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Trillium erectum, also known as red trillium,wake-robin, purple trillium,Beth root, or stinking Benjamin, is a species of flowering plant.
The plant takes its common name "wake-robin" by analogy with the European robin, which has a red breast heralding spring.
It is native to eastern Canada and the Eastern United States.
It is a spring ephemeral, an herbaceous perennial whose life-cycle is synchronised with that of the deciduous forests where it lives.
Trillium erectum grows to about 40 cm (16 in) in height with a spread of 30 cm (12 in), and can tolerate extreme cold in winter, surviving temperatures down to −35 °C (−31 °F).
The leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals and crystal raphide, and should not be consumed by humans.
Like all trilliums, its parts are in groups of three, with 3-petalled flowers above whorls of pointed triple leaves. The flowers are a deep red colour, though there is a white form. The flowers have the smell of rotting meat, as they are pollinated by flies.
Named varieties include:
Trillium erectum is cultivated as a flowering ornamental plant. It has received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
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Wikipedia