Trillium grandiflorum

Native

Wet to moderate moisture. Woods. Partial sun to full shade.

May to June

White

8″ to 16″

This is a 8″ to 16″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on 1 to many, usually 2 or 3, scapes from a short, stout rhizome.

There is no central stem. What appears to be the central stem is actually a slender, hairless, pale green or reddish green 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 hairless, untoothed, diamond-shaped or egg-shaped to almost circular, 4¾″to 8″ long, 3″ to 6″ wide, and stalkless or nearly 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 have red tones early in the growing season.

The inflorescence is a solitary flower at the end of a ¾″ to 3″ long, erect or ascending stalk. The flower is held above the bracts and faces outward.

The flowers are 2″ to 4″ wide. There are 3 sepals, 3 petals, and 6 stamens. The sepals are spreading, lance-shaped, and green, rarely streaked with maroon-purple. The petals are white, turning pinkish-purple with age, and thin. The shape of the petals is variable, from narrowly lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped to almost circular. The veins on the upper side of the petals are conspicuous but do not appear engraved. The filaments are white and much shorter than the anthers. The anthers are pale pale yellow with dark yellow pollen. There is no floral scent.

The fruit is a pale green, globular, mealy, moist but not juicy berry.

The large size of the flower and bracts distinguish this from all other trilliums that occur in Minnesota.