Common name: Trillium, Wake-Robin
Family: Liliaceae (Trilliaceae), Lily
Height x width: 6-12" depending on species
Growth rate: slow
Foliage: 3 whorled on top of a single stem, elliptic to ovate, some mottled silver-white or purple, margins slightly wavy
Flowers: solitary, hanging from leaf axil, 3 leafy outer sepals and 3 petals, some stalked, various colors from white to purple or reddish, spring followed by a berry in early summer
Hardiness: zones 3-7 to 9 depending on species
Soil: moist, organic prefered although tolerates many; acidic pH 4.5-6.5
Light: sun in spring and part to full shade after (as in deciduous woodlands)
Pests and Problems: none serious
Landscape habit, uses: woodlands, natural gardens, shade borders, effective massed but with other perennials to cover as foliage dies back in early summer
Other interest: native to North America or Asia depending on species, some species have many common names; Native Americans used cooked roots of the purple trillium as an aphrodisiac, emetic and anti-spasmodic; purple trillium is also called Stinking Bejamin as the flowers smell of rancid meat (as do some other species), attracting its pollinator the big green fleshfly
Other culture: resists moving (usually dies) unless dormant or all root system is gathered in large amount of undisturbed soil
Propagation: rhizome division in midsummer (difficult) or seed (takes 2 years to germinate)
Species:
Those marked * are most commonly seen in natural settings and found
in commerce.
| Species, cultivars | zones | flowers | foliage | height | |
| catesbaei, Rose Trillium | 7-9 | pink, pedicel, reflexed | green | 10-12" | |
| cernuum, Nodding Trillium | 4-7 | white, pedicel, reflexed | green | 12-18" | |
| cuneatum, Little Sweet Betsy | 6-9 | maroon, large, bad scent | mottled silver | 12-18" | |
| *erectum, Stinking Benjamin | 3-8 | maroon, erect, bad scent | green | 6-18" | |
| flexipes | 3-8 | white, long pedicels | green | 12-15" | |
| *grandiflorum, Great White T. | 4-7 | white fading pink, large | green | 18-24" | |
| grandiflorum 'Flore Pleno' | 4-7 | white, double | green | 18-24" | |
| grandiflorum 'Roseum' | 4-7 | pink | green | 18-24" | |
| luteum, Yellow Trillium | 4-7 | yellow, lemon scent | mottled | 12-15" | |
| nivale, Dwarf Trillium | 5-9 | white, pedicel | dark green | 3-6" | |
| ovatum, Western Trillium | 5-9 | white, pedicel, bad scent | veins, red stem | 12-18" | |
| recurvatum, Prairie Trillium | 4-7 | maroon, erect, clawed | mottled | 12-15" | |
| sessile, Sessile/Toad Trillium | 4-7 | maroon, sessile | mottled | 6-12" | |
| undulatum, Painted Trillium | 4-7 | white, pink V, erect | bluish green | 8-12" | |
| vaseyi, Vasey's Wake Robin | 6-9 | maroon, nice scent | green | 18-24" | |
| viride, Green Wake Robin | 4-7 | greenish,erect, bad scent | white spots | 12-15" | |
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