Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)
Description
Trillium erectum, the red trillium, is a species of flowering plant. It is also known as wake-robin, purple trillium, Beth root, or stinking Benjamin. The plant takes its common name "wake-robin" by analogy with the European robin, which has a red breast heralding spring. It is native to the Eastern United States and eastern Canada at least as far north as Lac-Pénobscot, Quebec. It is a spring ephemeral, an herbaceous perennial whose life-cycle is synchronised with that of the deciduous forests where it lives. Trillium erectum grows to about 40 cm (16 in) in height with a spread of 30 cm (12 in), and can tolerate extreme cold in winter, surviving temperatures down to −35 °C (−31 °F). Like all trilliums, its parts are in groups of three, with 3-petalled flowers above whorls of pointed triple leaves. The flowers are a deep red colour, though there is a white form. The carrion-scented flowers attract scavenging flies for pollination. Eventually the flower petals wither, leaving behind a fruit, which is initially green, ripening to a bright red berry-like capsule, 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. The root was traditionally used as an aid in childbirth, hence the name "Beth root" (a corruption of "birth root"). Native Americans used root tea for menstrual disorders, to induce childbirth, and to aid in labor. The leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals and crystal raphide, and should not be consumed by humans.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Liliales
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Family: Melanthiaceae
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Genus: Trillium
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