To many, trilliums are the best of the native wildflowers. Their large white, three-petaled flowers standing proud over three deep green bracts stand out in rich woods and at their edges.

In Michigan, the large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) is the most common and can form spectactular stands if the deer leave them alone. For deer, while they are extremely popular to see, they’re even more popular as food. As the population of deer has grown, the populations of trillium have dwindled.

Unfortunately, their popularity also has made them prey for collectors and sellers of wildflowers to folks who would like them in their own gardens. Still, there are places around the Ann Arbor area that have very impressive populations that are fun to visit, and leave behind.

According to the gospel, Wikipedia, there are about 40-50 species of trillium in North America and Asia. According to the USDA plants database, there are 39 species in North America, and Michigan has nine species we can count as native somewhere in the state. Those species are Large white trillium (Trillium grandflorum), Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), Snow trillium (Trillium nivale), Prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum), Toadshade (Trillium sessile), Red trillium (Trillium erectum) - also known affectionately as Stinking Benjamin or Stinking Willie, Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum) aka Whip-poor-will flower, Drooping Trillium or Nodding Wake-robin (Trillium flexipes), Yellow Trillium or Yellow wakerobin (Trillium luteum). Look them up.

Interestingly, trilliums are in the lily family, so they’re kin of such wildflowers as Death camus (Zigadenus venenosus) , Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina racemosa), Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum), Yucca (Yucca spp.), and Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense), among many others. Since the Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) is what is most common around here, I’m going to focus on it for the rest of this entry.

As you can see in the picture here, the flower has three white petals that gradually turn pink as they age (the flower, not the plant). So, if you see a trillium with white and pink flowers, don’t think you’re seeing a rare plant (as I did when I first observed this, not knowing anything about anything) - you’re just seeing one with flowers on their last legs.

After the flower has given up the ghost, and if it was lucky enough to be pollinated, it forms a small pod with about 16 small, brown, oval, nondescript seeds that are distributed by ants that like to feast on a little oil-rich structure on the seeds called an elaiosome, so they spread slowly.

Bloodroots and Dutchman’s breeches also have these structures and are spread around by ants. The flowers and leaves sprout up from a thickened rootstock that is perennial. According to one source, the plants take from five to nine years to grow from seed to flowering plant. As a result, they’re not widely available commercially, and if you do find some, there is probably a good chance that they’ve been dug up from nature instead of grown from seed, given the long time lag until they can be sold.

If you pick a trillium flower, you could kill the plant, or at least set it back a long way, so please leave them to bloom and take a picture, but nothing else.

I always think it's fun to learn about different uses Native Americans had for different plants, and they can vary widely from tribe to tribe. For example, according to the University of Michigan Ethnobotany website, Chippewas would use it for sore ears and sore joints, while Menominees would use it for cramps and as a disinfectant. We don’t know how effective they were, or what side effects may or may not have accompanied these uses, but it’s interesting to think about their use of the woods and meadows as their local apothecary.

If you want to see these plants in their native splendor, you may see some as you drive along a country road and glance off-road to peer into the forest. Of course, this isn’t good driving advice, but you can probably spot some along Huron River Drive between Ann Arbor and Dexter.

If you want to actually walk, there is a really good population in the oak woods of County Farm Park; another good population in Montibeller Park behind the Carpenter Road Meijer; and a nice population in Nichols Arboretum in the woods south of the Dow Prairie. I understand there is a good population in Mary Doyle Park off of Packard Road in Ann Arbor, too. They like rich woods, so if you know of some, you might want to take a walk soon, as the flowers don’t last forever.

OK, so blooming in my mini nature area/yard this week are, of course, Great White Trillium, Rue Anemone, Carrion Flower, Wild Geranium (blooming like crazy right now), Golden Alexanders, Wild strawberry, Mayapple, violets, Woodland Phlox and Graceful sedge. The yellow Golden Alexanders and lavender wild geranium look great together! Let me know if you see any other good populations of trillium in public spaces as you get out and enjoy nature. Thanks!

Rick is a local landscape architect and Ann Arbor native, with a special interest in all things natural, including native plants and the critters who eat them. You can contact him at yourland1824@gmail.com.