Friday, May 11, 2007

Eeks!!! I *Lied*!

Well, unwittingly, anyway!

A few days ago, Terri mentioned that she wanted to go for a walk and see if the Trillium was up so she could photograph it. I told her that I didn't think the Trillium was up yet, but....


Yes, it is! Now I feel bad....


Yesterday, I was walking around the house, looking at all of the new life that is springing forward, when I saw something "white" in the woods. When I checked it out, it was, indeed, a very beautiful Trillium!

It is illegal to pick Trillium flowers in many states, New York being one of them. When the flower is removed, the plant is seriously injured and/or may die. The seeds of Trillium are spread by ants and mice. The outside of the seed contains a fleshy part that the ant or mouse eats. When it passes through their system, it is then "ferilized", and a new plant then begins. We have never had many Trillium plants here, but the mice or ants must have been busy, as we now have many plants in one area!

The leaves of the Trillium are actually underground, with the three leaves that surround the flower actually being a bract. The type we see here in the northeastern US are called Trillium Grandiflorum.

5 comments:

Carly B said...

Wow, I got a science lesson today...I thought I was the science teacher. LOL!

Terri said...

No worries Kae... So those are May Apples huh? Coolness. We have those all over the woods here too. It's been years since I saw a trillium up close that's why I thought they are part of the trillium plant.

Katya said...

Carly, as much as I dislike science, I do love flowers!!! And the Trillium is such a simple and pretty one! I only wish we had the purple ones like Mark's mom has at her house! They are so pretty!So now I AM a science teacher!! Another *hat*, eh?
Yes Terri, the May Apples are fully up now. They look just like bunches of little green umbrellas!I cannot believe how everything is getting *so* green now! Gotta love it. We NEED leaves to protect us from the SUN!!! (it is so HOT!)

Denise in PA said...

Purple ones...tons of them here. We have very few WHITE ones.

Anonymous said...

How lovely to see a Trillium!! Its been too long since I've seen them. They used to carpet the woods in the spring time around the town where I grew up, in Minnesota. I've not seen any Trilliums here in Slovakia