Native Plants

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Tuesday - June 10, 2008

From: Rockaway Beach, OR
Region: Northwest
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources
Title: Pictures and sources for black trilliums
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Do you have pictures and/or sources for Black Trilliums?

ANSWER:

Other than references for the fantasy novel series Trillium (Black Trillium, Blood Trillium, Golden Trillium, Lady of the Trillium and Sky Trillium), Mr. Smarty Plants hasn't been able to find much about black trilliums. One person commenting in the UBC (University of British Columbia) Botanical Garden Forum says that they have seen black trilliums in Ontario, Canada, but wonders if they were so red that they appeared black. Another participant in the forum believes that the anthocyanins responsible for the petal color can be so concentrated as to cause them to look black. I suspect that this is the explanation for the black trillium, plus the fact that the blossoms darken as the flowers age. The species this person in the forum refers to is Trillium erectum (red trillium) (with more photos from CalPhotos).

Other trilliums with red flowers are:

Trillium chloropetalum (giant wakerobin) with more photos from CalPhotos.

Trillium cuneatum (little sweet Betsy) has dark red flowers and one of the photos shows a very dark flower, but I suspect it is a problem with the color quality of the photo.

Trillium gracile (Sabine River wakerobin)

Trillium kurabayashii (giant purple wakerobin) with more photos

Trillium ludovicianum (Louisiana wakerobin)

Trillium maculatum

Trillium petiolatum

Trillium sessile (toadshade) with more photos from CalPhotos.

Trillium vaseyi (sweet wakerobin)