Amazing trilliums

A trio of trillium

Today Melanie and I decided to head back to our favorite trail, the Lower Salal on Chuckanut Mountain, to check the status of the beginning trillium display we saw two weeks ago. And we were not disappointed: we saw hundreds of these beauties along the trail. I had a hard time deciding which ones to share with you.

Trillium plants are wonderful springtime flowers. I learned quite a bit about them as I began to research them for this post. I found this article on Prairie Nursery. I'll share some of what I discovered. The article is entitled, "Ten Things to Know about Trillium."

There are 39 native trilliums in the U.S. All trillium species belong to the Liliaceae (lily) family. Native to temperate regions of North America and East Asia, the genus ‘Trillium’ has 49 species, 39 of them are native to various areas across the United States. 

The plants are extremely long-lived. Trilliums are relatively easy to grow from their rhizomatous root but slow to develop and spread. To make up for it, the plants can live for up to 25 years.

I knew that they only produce one flower per season, and I also learned from this article that they are sometimes called Toadshade (for their resemblance to a toad-sized umbrella), Wakerobin (for their appearance with the first robins), and Birthroot (for medicinal uses during childbirth).

So beautiful

We saw so many today, some that are just getting started, and others that have already grown old enough to turn purple. That's what they do when they've been around for awhile.

Such a lovely lavender 

Like this one, which we probably saw two weeks ago and now can enjoy in its later life. I guess if I thought of them in terms of our own lifespan, this one might be a senior, like me.

A mutant trillium (duillium? twoillium?)

This trillium is what started me on a quest to find out how often a mutant like this appears. It only has two leaves and two petals. Once a few years back, on a trip to the mountains, we also found a quad-trillium, with four leaves and four petals on a single flower. But after quite a bit of reading, I found nothing to explain these anomalies. 

 Magnificent flowers

In any event, spring is definitely in full swing, and we were thrilled that we were surrounded by so many of these beauties. I'm pretty sure that when we are there next, most will be purple or expired. I'm so glad we decided to make this journey today. We went almost six miles and over 1,000 feet up and down, and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

:-)