Trillium flexipes

Native

Wet to moderate moisture. Woods.

April to May

Creamy white

8″ to 16″

This is a 8″ to 16″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on 1 to several scapes from a single, short, stout rhizome.

There is no central stem. What appears to be the central stem is actually a slender, hairless scape.

There are no above-ground leaves. There is a whorl of 3 leaf-like bracts at the top of the scape. The bracts are broad, diamond-shaped or egg-shaped to almost circular, 2¾″ to 10″ long, 2¾″ to 10″ wide, and stalkless. They taper gradually to a narrow point at the base, and taper gradually to a sharp point at the tip with concave sides along the tip. They are medium green and do not have red or maroon tones.

The inflorescence is a solitary flower hanging on a stalk above or below the bracts. The flower stalk (pedicel) is 1½″ to 4¾″ long, straight, and stiff. It declines to about 90° or more.

The flowers are about 1½″ wide. There are 3 sepals, 3 petals, and 6 stamens. The sepals are green, lance-shaped to egg-shaped, and as long or slightly shorter than the petals. The petals are thick-textured, creamy white, not two-colored, ¾″ to 2″ long, and ⅜″ to 19 ⁄16″ wide. They are lance-shaped or broadly egg-shaped and come to a point at the tip with straight sides along the tip. They are usually flat or bent backward in the upper half. However, this character is an unreliable field mark, as photos on this page indicate. The veins on the upper side of the petals are conspicuous, appearing engraved. The stamens are ⅜″ to ⅞″ long. The filaments are white, thin, and less than ½ the length of the anthers. The anthers are creamy white or yellow and 3⁄16″ to 11 ⁄16″ long There is no floral scent.

The fruit is a rosy-red to purplish, fleshy, juicy berry. It is ½″ to 1⅛″ in diameter, egg-shaped, pyramidal at the top, strongly angled, and contains many seeds.

Nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum) pedicel is shorter, ⅝″ to 1¼″ long. The petals are thin-textured, not thick, and are not conspicuously veined on the upper surface. The sides of the petal along the tip are convex, not straight. The anthers are shorter, 1 ⁄16″ to ¼″ long, and are pinkish-or grayish-lavender, not creamy white or yellow. The filaments are about as long as the anthers.