Wildflower Wednesday

This week’s Wildflower Wednesday featured flower is Trillium.

Trillium is a spring ephemeral that grows in rich forests. Each plant has plant’s three leaves, three petals, and three stigmas. (hench the name Trillium, “Tri” meaning 3). Their flowers bend towards the sun and they turn pink as they age.

Their seeds are spread by ants and take 2 years to germinate, 10 years to produce their first flower, and are known to live over 50 years. They are fragile plants and picking a single flower can cause damage and possibly kill the plant.

Another common name for Trillium is Birthroot. This comes from its use by Native Americans to assist with childbirth.

Spiritually it represents the past, present, and future. In Christianity, it represents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. According to Native American legend, it originally had 4 leaves but lost one when a priest picked it to explain the Holy Trinity in an effort to convert them to Christianity.