Good things come in threes! This beauty has 3 leaves, 3 bracts, and 3 pedals!
Trilliums are endlessly fascinating! Did you know:
They do not produce nectar; pollinators come for the pollen, rather than the sweet treat most flowers produce.
Western Trillium plants live a long time! Up to 50 years!
Trillium seeds are attached to a fatty substance called an elaiosome. Ants love this substance, and will carry them off for food. This is a clever way for the plant to distribute seeds for future generations of trilliums!
A bee visits a Trillium flower in early April of 2025.
Trillium ovatum
Western Trillium
Description:
Stem is erect, lower stem is bare.
Leaves are 2 to 8 inches long, linear to widely egg-shaped, with pointed tips
Flowers on one to two, 1/2 inch, erect to weak stalk above leaves. Petals are 1/2 to 3 inches and long, oval with pointed tip, white fading to pink or deep rose-red as the bloom ages.
Seed capsule is a green or white berry
Grows in cool moist mixed woods, coniferous forests, redwoods, to 6000 ft.
Rarity: Common
Flowering Time: Early Spring
Life Cycle: Perennial
Height: 4--18 inches
Habitat: West-Side Forest, Coastal, East-Side Forest
Found In: Crater Lake Np, Siskiyous, Wallowas, N Cascades Np, Olympic Np, Mt. Rainier Np
Native: Yes
Source: Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Additional Resources: