Trillium grandiflorum, commonly known as white trillium, great white trillium, white wake-robin, or in French as trille blanc, is a perennial monocotyledonous plant in the lily family. It is native to eastern North America, from northern Quebec to the southern parts of the United States through the Appalachian Mountains into northernmost Georgia and west to Minnesota. It also thrives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. There are also several disjunctive populations, such as in Nova Scotia and Iowa. The plant is most common in rich deciduous and mixed upland forests. It is easily recognised by its attractive three-petaled white flowers, opening from the late spring to the early summer, that rise above a whorl of three, leaf-like bracts.
Trillium grandiflorum has been studied extensively by ecologists due to a number of unique features it possess. It is a representative example of a plant whose seeds are spread through myrmecochory, or ant-mediated dispersal, which is effective in increasing the plant's ability to outcross, but ineffective in bringing the plant very far. This has led ecologists to question how it and similar plants were able to survive glaciation events during the ice ages. The height of the species has also been shown to be an effective index of how intense foraging by deer is in a particular area.
Some forms of the species have pink instead of white petals, while others with extra petals, also called "double" forms, are naturally quite common in the species, and these are especially popular with Trillium gardeners. In fact, the species is the most popular of its genus in cultivation, which has led to conservation concerns due to the majority of commercially available plants being collected from the wild. A few regional governments in Canada and the United States have declared the plant vulnerable as a result. As the plant is attractive and well known, it serves as the provincial emblem of Ontario, the state wild flower of Ohio, and it is often used in heraldry in Canada.
Read more about Trillium Grandiflorum: Description, Taxonomy, Ecology, Cultivation, Cultural Usage