Spring!
The word itself puts an extra bounce in your step! Spring Spring Spring!
A joyous awakening as we step out of the darkness of winter and into the bright sunshine of spring.
As much of the forest flower remains green, one plant stands out. The trillium proclaims its excitement with the new season with bold white blooms. Sunshine yellow pollen announces the season of rebirth.
The Trillium ovatum, or Pacific trillium, is sometimes called the wake robin because it is one of the first flowers of spring, waking the robin from its winter slumber.
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| Trillium makes its presence known standing out from Sword fern and native Bleeding heart |
from: olympiawa.gov
Trillium is pollinated by ants. Each seed has a little
oil-rich appendage that is attractive to ants.
The ants carry the seeds back to their nests where they eat the
appendages or feed them to the larvae and then discard the remaining seeds on
rubbish piles. This is a reasonably
effective mechanism for seed dispersal.
Other spring-flowering “ant plants” include bleeding heart and wild
ginger.
Trillium life cycle:
- 2 years - time from seed dispersal to plant
- 7 years - average time for a plant to flower for the first time
- 25 years - lifespan of many trillium species
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| large grouping of trillium in Trillium Park, Olympia, WA |
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| Trillium flowers become pink, then purple with age |
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| trillium are part of the lily family |
