Trillium in the Smokies

 

 

 

 

These were Trilliums that I saw in bloom in April in the Smokies.
The first Trillium above in T. grandiflorum. It certainly is grand! These were blooming in abundance everywhere. The third picture may give you an idea about how abundant they were.
I believe the second picture is T. cernuum, commonly called nodding trillium. I saw lots of these Trilliums with a lavender ovary, but none of them were nodding. So... maybe they are not cernuum. You tell me!
The last picture is of yellow trillium, T. luteum. It has a light lemon fragrance, so they say. It's hard for me to bend over that far. It does best in limestone or basic soils, so it's main range is in the midwest.
There are several other trilliums in the Smokies, but these are the ones I saw on my last visit.
Trilliums produce only the 3 leaves associated with the flower. These leaves are necessary to produce food stores for the plant. Picking them can seriously injure the plant and it may take years to recover. They grow from a bulb and the bulb is usually deeply buried in the soil, making them difficult to move.