Affordable Painted Trilliums For Every Landscape
Painted Trillium
Painted trillium is a long-lasting, herbaceous, perennial, flowering plant that blooms from late April through June. Its binomial name is Trillium Undulatum, with a family name of Melanthiaceae. The name trillium derives from the Latin 'tri', referring to the parts of the flower that appear in threes. There are three petals and three sepals in the Painted trillium.
After pollination, the flower produces its fruit, a single three-angled, scarlet-colored berry about 1-2 inches long. Each painted trillium has three sizeable leaf-like bracts arranged around a long flowering stem attached to the single flower.
During colonial (and pre-colonial) days in America, the Painted Trillium was a favorite flower of the Indians and settlers. Gathering these flowers for bouquets was commonplace, but many trilliums were destroyed in this way.
When the settlers began to clear and develop the land, the vast wildflower population was thinned out. The anatomy and propagation process of the trillium contributes to its reputation as a rare and precious plant.
Each trillium flower produces one seed case, each containing several seeds. This seed is transported to its new location by ants, not by birds, bees, or wind. Ants deposit the seed in a spot close to the mother plant, and some seeds begin to germinate slowly.
From a single planted seed, about five to nine years pass before the single flower will bloom.
Today, Painted Trillium (and other trillium species) have increased in number and abound in some areas in Eastern North America. Each of these beautiful flowers has spent about a decade from seed to blossom. It has a place of honor in American botanical history and deserves the same in your unique wildflower garden.