Yellow Trillium
You know, it's funny ... I thought for sure I had posted here last year about finding yellow trilliums in the woods. But I cannot see the post -- so will do so now. guess I put only the photos online (link below), and forgot the post at Livejournal. Doing it now!
Last May, we noticed yellow trilliums in our woods. We have lots of red trilliums (thousands) and hundreds of white. The yellow is a variant of the red -- same leaf shape -- different from the white's leaf shape. Sort of an albino red, I guess.
Photos at http://kensview.mirror1.org/post/2011/05/08/Trillium_Photos
Last year we found four yellows, and we marked their locations. The spring is faster advanced this year, maybe 3 weeks, and the reds have been out about 1.5 weeks. The yellows just bloomed. We have the same four locations, plus we found a fifth yellow. So the yellow runs true -- ie, it is something genetic, not just a soil pH thing or a one-year anomaly in flower growth. The yellows are found mingled with reds, another indication that it is not soil pH.
This is not a real yellow trillium. We saw an "official" yellow trillium at an open garden last year, and it has quite a distinctive shape, different from both reds and whites. Still I don't know a better name for these red-shaped yellows.
The yellows tend to run a bit smaller than reds, maybe 10 percent smaller, and droops a bit more.
While we're talking trilliums, I will tell you the wonderful story of how trilliums spread.
Trillium seeds have a waxy coating, that ants like to eat. The ants gather the seeds, take them down into their nests, and eat the coating later, leaving the seed. Come housekeeping time, the ants carry the seeds out, and spread them around. So the next time you see lots of trilliums, thank the ants for their work!
Last May, we noticed yellow trilliums in our woods. We have lots of red trilliums (thousands) and hundreds of white. The yellow is a variant of the red -- same leaf shape -- different from the white's leaf shape. Sort of an albino red, I guess.
Photos at http://kensview.mirror1.org/post/2011/05/08/Trillium_Photos
Last year we found four yellows, and we marked their locations. The spring is faster advanced this year, maybe 3 weeks, and the reds have been out about 1.5 weeks. The yellows just bloomed. We have the same four locations, plus we found a fifth yellow. So the yellow runs true -- ie, it is something genetic, not just a soil pH thing or a one-year anomaly in flower growth. The yellows are found mingled with reds, another indication that it is not soil pH.
This is not a real yellow trillium. We saw an "official" yellow trillium at an open garden last year, and it has quite a distinctive shape, different from both reds and whites. Still I don't know a better name for these red-shaped yellows.
The yellows tend to run a bit smaller than reds, maybe 10 percent smaller, and droops a bit more.
While we're talking trilliums, I will tell you the wonderful story of how trilliums spread.
Trillium seeds have a waxy coating, that ants like to eat. The ants gather the seeds, take them down into their nests, and eat the coating later, leaving the seed. Come housekeeping time, the ants carry the seeds out, and spread them around. So the next time you see lots of trilliums, thank the ants for their work!