A New Flower for Me

Trillium are some of my very favorite wild flowers, and I’ve seen several species here in the mountains, including Trillium grandiflora (showy white blooms), Trillium undulatum (painted trillium), Trillium erectum (deep red, aka “Wakerobin”) but this was a new one for me.

This beauty is Trillium luteum. It’s lovely yellow petals stay erect upon sessile (stalkless) stems. I don’t know why I have never spotted it before as it was prolific in the Park last week when this picture was taken. With these spring ephemerals it is so often just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Blink and you miss them!
Like all trillium it has three leaves, three sepals and three petals. I often wonder if St. Patrick had seen a trillium would he have used it instead of the shamrock as a symbol of the trinity-so many threes-in-one!
Hope you enjoy this lovely little blessing.