Yellow Trillium

Not quite native to Virginia though I’m quite pleased to have these flowers blooming in my gardens. Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum) is native to Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. Some speak of a lemony scent. It must be mighty subtle. I don’t detect it.

The plants emerge from underground rhizomes which will spread slowly if left undisturbed. I’m leaving them undisturbed but they really are slow to spread. But they do seem to be quite happy! The flower consists of three tall slightly twisted lemon yellow petals and three slim green sepals sitting in the middle of a circle of three leaves. That’s really 3-ness!

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.