Trillium ovatum, Western Wake-robin
Columbia Gorge, Oregon
April 18, 2003
Photos above and two below.
Range within the United States is shown in the BONAP map to the right. In Canada its range is restricted to British Columbia and Alberta. Other English Common names include Western White Trillium and White Trillium.
Immediately above and two below
May 28, 2004
Why in the devil is a flower that looks like the above called a Western White Trillium? Because the flowers start out as white and turn pink, and even darker, with age.
There are two types of trillium, pedicellate and sessile. To fully understand the distinction it is important to understand what this species is not. It is not as it appears. Trilliums do not produce true leaves above ground. The rhizome of these species have an extension which grows above ground, this is the “stem” of the plant. What appears to be leaves (everything in threes of course) are really the bracts of the flower. Note, however, that like leaves, these bracts perform the photosynthesis of the plant. In sessile plants, the flower (the three white petals in this case) sit directly on the bracts. In pedicellate plants, the flower sits on the pedicellate - a stem, if you wish, which extends above the bracts. Trillium ovatum is a pedicellate trillium. Trilliums are plants that look like very traditional flowers but are not at all traditional.
