White Trillium

White Trillium
White Trillium. Trillium grandiflora.
Liliaceae, the lily family.

Description:
Plant: Low, forest plant 6"-12", with a whorl of three leaves, below a large white, three-petaled, generally upturned flower.
Flowers: Solitary, white, 1.5"-3", with three ovate petals, three large pointed sepals, and six yellow stamens. Sometimes turning pinkish with age.
Leaves: Whorl of three sessile, broadly ovate to diamond-shaped leaves, 2"-4" long, atop a slender stem, and just below the single flower.
Fruit: A red berry.
Blooming: April - May
Habitat: Deciduous woods

Comments: One of the early spring flowers. One of the largest trilliums in our area. The large flower, upturned aspect, and broad petals distinguish this species from other white trilliums. Nodding Trillium and Bent Trillium (T. cernuum and T. Flexipes) have smaller flowers that typically nod below the leaves. Painted Trillium (T. undulatum) has a bright pink or red center pattern, Least Trillium (T. pussilum) has much smaller, and more pointed petals and leaves, and Snow trillium (T. nivale) is also smaller, and has short stalks on the leaves. Neither of the last two is common in Western New York.

Where to find it: Scattered through the upper woods of the park, and first opening a week or two after the toothwort appears, generally in mid-April.