Red Trillium

Red Trillium - Trillium erectum 

Red Trillium has been used by the Native Americans for many years.  It is often used as an antiseptic or diuretic.  The roots can be boiled and used to prevent diarrhea.  If made into an ointment it can help with swelling and reducing inflammation and helps with arthritis and sore joints. Red Trilliums, when they flower, typically exhibit a range in color from brick red to dark burgundy. The Red Trillium grows with three leaves on the mature plant with three petals and three sepals sprouting from the middle of the flower. Both the leaves and the petals are triangular shaped with the broader part closest to the center of the flower. The leaves are bright green in color and the flower is a beige color that looks almost white.  They are safe to plant in areas where deer frequent, and their bright color and soft fragrance can serve to attract butterflies. These beautiful Red Trillium plants are so gorgeous that they have invited many different names, such as the wake-robin and stinking Benjamin. Red Trillium is a perennial plant, and should flower in your garden year after year.  Found in moist woods east of the Mississippi River from southern Canada to the northern border of Florida, Red Trillium (Trillium erectum L.) is an unbranched, rhizomatous herb. Its leaves grow in a single whorl of three beneath its one, and only, nodding flower.The red trillium plant grows about eight to 16 inches high while the leaves can be up to seven inches long. Its bright maroon or reddish brown flower is about two and a half to three inches wide. The flowers bloom from April through June.The roots of red trillium were used as an aid in childbirth in non-traditional medicine. Native Americans also used it to induce childbirth, assist in labor, and to help with menstrual disorders. A poultice used to treat tumors, inflammation and ulcers was made from the entire plant.