Description: This native perennial plant is 6-12" tall and unbranched. The central stem is hairless, stout, light reddish green, and about 5-10" long. At the apex of this stem, there are 3 leaves surrounding a single flower. Immature plants, however, produce only leaves without the flower. Each leaf is about 3-4" long and 1½–2" across. It is ovate, tapering to a petiole-like base. Other characteristics of each leaf include: smooth margins, parallel venation (with diagonal side veins), an absence of hairs, and an upper surface that is somewhat shiny and speckled with patches of light green and dark green. Upon occasion, the upper surface will be plain green, rather than speckled. The flower has 3 reddish brown petals, 3 green sepals, and 6 black stamens. Each petal is about ¾–1" long, oblanceolate, and curving upward so that its tip is adjacent with the tips of the other petals. With the age, the petals begin to hang downward and fall off the stem. Each sepal is about ¾" long, triangular in shape, and hangs dorom the base of the flower. The sepals persist on the stem for a longer period of time than the petals. Each stamen is about ½" long, curving inward toward the other stamens. The blooming period is mid- to late spring and lasts about 3 weeks. There is no noticeable floral scent. A single berry is produced that contains numerous seeds. The main rootstock is thickened and elongated, with numerous feeder roots. Rhizomes are also produced, causing this plant to form vegetative colonies.
Cultivation: The preference is light shade or dappled sunlight, moist to mesic conditions, and rich loamy soil. The foliage is not often bothered by pests or disease. Trilliums are slow to develop because of the short period of active growth, and up to 10 years may be required before a plant reaches flowering size in the wild.
Range & Habitat: It is found primarily in mesic deciduous woodlands, including oak-hickory woodlands and maple-dominated woodlands. Sometimes it survives degradation of woodland habitats, and can be found along fence rows with woody vegetation, overgrown areas near railroads, and miscellaneous waste areas with partial or light shade.Faunal Associations: The reddish brown flowers probably attract beetles and flies, which feed on the pollen. The berries of Trilliums are reported to be sweet, but little information is available about what kinds of animals are attracted to them. The seeds of Trilliums are often distributed by ants because of their fleshy elaisomes, and there have been reports of Vespid wasps entering Trillium berries and carrying off the seeds. Among mammalian herbivores, deer are especially known to eat the flowers and foliage of Trilliums. There is also some evidence that the seeds can pass through their digestive tracts and remain viable, so deer may help to distribute the seeds across long distances. Where deer are too abundant, however, they may destroy local populations of Trilliums. It is possible that the speckled pattern of the foliage of the Prairie Trillium is an adaptation to deer predation as this type of pattern may help to camoflage the plant with the surrounding forest floor.
Photographic Location: Standing Stone State Park in TN.
Comments: The common name is misleading because the Prairie Trillium occurs in woodlands like other Trilliums, rather than prairies. However, it is especially common in Illinois and the surrounding states where prairies occur. This Trillium species is easy to identify for the following reasons: 1) The sepals hang downward from the flower, whereas in other Trillium spp. the sepals are usually spreading; 2) The reddish brown flowers are sessile against the stem and leaves, whereas the flowers are held above the foliage on short stalks in some other Trillium spp. (e.g., Trillium erectum); and 3) The leaves taper gradually at the base into short petioles, whereas the leaves are sessile and quite rounded at the base in many other Trillium spp. There are varieties of the Prairie Trillium with yellow flowers and plain green leaves.
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