I suggest you find a copy of "Trilliums in Woodland and Garden: American Treasures" by Don Jacobs & Rob Jacobs; Eco Gardens, 1997; ISBN 0965835308

and/or

"Trilliums" by Frederick W. Case, Jr., and Roberta B. Case; Timber Press, 1997; ISBN 0-88192-374-5

These books describe, map the ranges, and have excellent photos of all the species. Some say that the Jacobs book is oriented more for gardeners and Case's for serious students but, as a trillium enthusiast, I have both books and find each valuable in their own right.
T. discolor has pale yellow flowers but is restricted to the south. Some other species that occasionaly have yellow or near yellow forms, include recurvatum, lancifolium, cuneatum, reliquum, decipiens, underwoodii, and a few others. Most or all of these are not indigenous to NYS but most will grow there. Since I do not have my books with me, I am relying on memory.

We are fortunate to have more indigenous trillium species in Georgia than any other state. Check out these web pages for photos, etc.:

http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium/

http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/Plant%20Galleries/album.asp?cat=Trilliaceae\Trillium

John, perhaps we should name Georgia "The Trillium State". I'd like to get that in a new license plate series (I mean, if they have them for Nascar, why not Trillium?).

Vavsie,

I have seen this species throughout much of its range, from Georgia to New England. In New York State (where I grew up) I only saw purple flowered plants; same thing in New England. Then I went to the southern Appalachians. Anyone interested in this genus MUST make a trip to either northern Georgia, western North Carolina, eastern Tennesssee, etc. to see FIELDS of these in bloom. It will blow your mind.

OK, back on subject. Of the literally thousands of plants I've seen in this region, hands down the purple plants are the most common. However, you can find both the white and "yellow" ones as well. The true white clones are much more common (in my experience) than the "yellow" ones. All of them are beautiful plants and worthy of space in any suitable garden.

I don't think any true yellow species occurs naturally in New York.

PF

Dear Plantfreak,

Thank your very much. Your answer is most helpful. I spent all my money on baskets to cover my Natives until they get established *grin*. Well I didnt have much to start with. Anyhow its web info for me until I win the lottery.

I believe NY is called "The Whitetail Deer State"

My son is going to Tokyo for two months starting may 21 (or something like that-day after final exams). He went there over christmas too. He is majoring in linguistics. I am considering hiring girls to seduce him and keep him here. Okay 85% kidding. He is handsome. I could probably get them free.

I have a good pic of the yellows, but don't know how to put pictures up on GW, though I have seen them on here. When I get them up on a web page I will post it here.

PAX
Laurette

Here in Michigan we have 99% white trilliums, but occasionally you might find a yellow.

Hey Chuckr30,

Are you sure those white plants are T. erectum? If the percentage for white is that high with just a few yellows, I'd guess your talking about T. grandiflorum. I could be wrong. One easy way to tell the difference is that T. erectum holds is flowers below a 90 degree angle with the earth while T. grandiflorum mostly holds them facing at 90 degrees or even more vertical.

Here's a link showing T. grandiflorum PF

Here is a link that might be useful: T. grandiflorum

Here we sometimes see the trilliums that are something between red and yellow. They are sort of pale pinkish/yellowish with red streaking. They will be growing in patches with reds and yellows.

vegangirl-your trilliums sound like they may be painted trillium or perhaps least trillium. Both of those, as well as Trillium grandiflorum are pictured on the page the link on my first message leads to.

Okay here is a new one-the red Trillium erectum that I ordered (and recieved) from the conservation department do not appear to be the species indicated. They are getting red mottling. I see pictures of Trillium with white mottling but not red. Anyone?

Laurette

Here is a picture of the yellow trillium and reds from the same colony. Now that I look at them and compare them to the website in the link above, as well as my books, I am not so sure they are Trillium erectum after all. They look more like the southern red species T. vaseyi (based on petal width), though we should have the former here in WNY rather than the latter. I wonder if it is a local strain characteristic or naturally occuring hybrid of T erectum and T vaseyi. Anyone have an opinion?

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellow Trillium

Here we have a "green Trillium" which is called "Nodding trillium" or more properly, "Trillium cernuum". It's flower faces at an angle of less than 90 degrees. You can see it here:

http://www.nativeorchid.com/NoddingTrillium.htm

It certainly isn't the bright yellow that you have there and yours is upright as well. Very interesting. I've never seen that kind before. Here in Southern Ontario we have the "red" and "white trilliums" (not sure if they would be called 'grandiflorum' or not) as well as "painted". The white turn pink as the flower is dying off and look very similar at that point to the painted trillium. We have 4 species here but none that are yellow as the one you talk about in your original post. Thanks for sharing that.

Barb

Hooti,

Your plants are T. erectum. These plants are extremely variable, some having very small flowers and others huge ones. T. vaseyi is a true southern Appalachian plant with a very restricted distribution. See the attached link. PF

Here is a link that might be useful: T. vaseyi distribution

The trilliums I described are not painted trilliums. They are a variation of T. erectum and occur in colonies with the normal red and the more unusual yellow. It's like they are a hybrid between the other two variations. Sorry my description in my previous post was fairly unclear:-)

Hi-thanks to everyone for their comments. Book learning can only get one so far and then its get the hands messy and experience. The latter for me is somewhat lacking.

Thanks for the confirmation of the species, Plantfreak. I was unsure how variable the species could be.

Vegangirl, I found two diluted reds in the colony of T erectum the yellows are in. One is open and looks kind of like someone colored over the flower in white chalk. (meaning the color is lightened but the tint or shade or whatever the word would be is the same - a light maroon, not exactly pink). The other is not opened yet but looks like it may be a lighter pink. There were also two shades of yellow. The one in my picture is a lemonish yellow. There was another bright daffodil yellow. The picture I took came out really blurry. I am going back tomorrow to take more pictures. I may mark them and go back for seeds.

My boyfriend is a true woodsman-his knowledge all applied and from experience. We are true opposites as I am a real virgo bookworm. I am learning not to argue with him no matter how sure I am that I am right, because it usually turns out that he was right. He has been telling me that he sees large expanses of Reds and whites and "some that seem to be a cross between the two." I assure him that that is not possible and that he must be talking about painted trilliums. I see however that the preferred conditions are differnt (book thing again-I have never seen a painted trillium. Must be my fear of cliffs *grin*) I will for sure try to get to some of the places he is talking about and take some pictures. It is jsut so difficult to get many hikes in the short period we have (and get the 85 assorted plants from the conservation dept. in the ground too!)

Does mention of double lobed hepatica fit in here or do we need another discussion? (meaning the two "side" lobes like mittens, normal central lobes, or three larger points and two smaller for a total of five.)

In LVX
Laurette

Laurette,
You've described them well:-) A painted trillium is distinctive, very unlike these variations. It certainly would be interesing to see what would come from seed. You might want to cover the seed pod with a piece of pantyhose to protect them from critters. They seem to love trillium seeds.

Interesting about the hepatica! You might want to start another discussion just to get more imput. Hepatica experts might not notice it hidden in a trillium post:-)

Not to late...I have this yellow variety growing in my wildflower garden and have it labeled as Trillium erectum 'Beigh' however I have seen it labeled as Trillium erectum 'Luteum'. I beleive it is a natural hybrid. Whatever it is..it is one of my favorites.
If you have any other trillium for trade.. let me know

Wow! The weather must be bad for a year-old posting to be resurrected! I love it! Trillium are my absolute favorite wildflower, and I have quite a few that I have collected. On the mt. in western NC, we have T. grandiflorum, sulcatum, and erectum. The sulcatums and erectums DO have yellow and light beige forms...have never seen a yellow grandiflorum. Around the Piedmont I have seen lots of T. cuneatums, which can have mottled red/yellow to completely yellow blooms. In the last two years I tried to get yellows as they were very dfferent. My T. dicepiens are already up and ready to bloom when the weather warms, and my T. underwoodii WERE up, but the rabbits ate all but one. I also have a T. reliquiem that is up already. I get so excited every spring when I see these plants push up through the leaves. Oh, I am having trouble with T. pussilum, so if anybody out there has any tips, I would appreciate it. I do have the Case book plus a friend who is pretty much an expert on trilliums, but I still cannot get a stand of those little ones going. Sorry to babble so much, but reading about trilliums just gets me wound up. We are seeing tons of T. cuneatums (and lots of other things) going underwater for a dam here...we tried to save as many as we could, but the area had so many, and we just could not save them all. So sad.

ncrescue, we also have a new reservoir/dam project here and are rescuing like crazy. But we'll fall far short of making a dent in it!

Don't you think the yellow trillium that you think is a color variation of t. cuneatum is actually trillium luteum? I love trillium luteum, especially the light fragrance.

I noticed you like gingers too. Have you seen the shuttleworth native ginger? What a beautiful plant! Here's the new foliage on one that I rescued several years ago.

{{gwi:561642}}

Loved your photo. But, no, the yellow trilliums were really cuneatums. It was interesting to see the color change as you went from area to area. There was no fragrance. Some of the flowers were really an ugly color as Mother Nature had NOT achieved a good balance between the yellow and the maroon, resulting in a muddy color. Yes, we will miss rescuing in the dam area. There were SO many different types of plants, many one would associate more with the moutains than the Piedmont. The gingers were arifoliums and minors...also asarum canadensis. The only thing you would expect to see but was NOT there was a variety of ferns...mainly Christmas and spleenwort, but nothing else. For this coming season I don't think we will have many sites to rescue as the developers have given us a "maybe" or "we'll keep you in mind", and that usually translates to a "no." Then they kill everything. It just breaks my heart. I do know one developer who is faithful to environmental ideas and lets me know if he has any properties that are wooded. We have worked with him for over four years. Oh, one more interesting thing: we have actually found ginseng in the Piedmont! I love walking in the woods, even if we don't find anything. Georgia has a very active plant rescue program, according to what I have learned. Good luck to both of us in saving what we can from sites slated for development.

Did any one see the yellow trillium offered by HENRY FIELDS OR GURNEYS? Are these for real,perfect large yellow petals. I never seen any yellow trillium with such large flowers.

I haven't seen the pciture in Henry Fields or gurneys. I'll have to look at my catalogs.

I just found this thread again! Interesting reading. I sure wish I could help you folks in your rescues. I often ask about rescuing plants and the road builders, etc will say "You have to check with the DOT" and the DOT tells me I have to check with the contractor and I can never find out who the contractor is, etc. My cousin sometimes grades out new roads and driveways for people. I always tell him to let me know where the road will be so I can rescue the plants. Then the next thing I hear, he's already done the deed. Sigh :-(

I have only been successful with DOT one time, but it was a very rich site, so we were blessed. We did have a developer this spring who, already having cleared the area, decided we could go on the property. We went six times as there were SO many Trillium cuneatums, Sol. seal, bloodroot, and a few mayapples and ferns that had refused to die. Of course, they were in the hot sun, but these plants were still trying! I was negociating with a construction company in Oregon, if you can imagine, that was going to build something in the NC Piedmont. Everything was just fine for several months...then a polite and somewhat contrite withdrawl of permission. What a shame as it was on a creek and along a very boggy, damp area...usually a good place around here. I missed two digs a little earlier as they were about 70 mi. away, and I did not have the time to go on those days. I did, however, get to one in the mountains, and there were many wonderful plants, including the yellow form of Trillium sulcatum. There were a few of the maroon ones, but most were yellow or almost white. Today I was in an area that has mostly T. grandiflorums, but I did not dig as they are not threatened. We only move them if there will be construction. Hopefully, you will find one person who will allow you to dig. We are losing green areas very quickly around here, and I hate for everything native to be lost. Oh, some people still plant privet. Yuck.

ncrescue, I don't know where you are but I'm near Ashe Co, NC. If you ever hear of a rescue nearby, please email me via GW and let me know!

I'm glad to hear about the plants you have been able to rescue. I helped with one decades ago in Boone, NC where a shopping mall was going to go in.

Hello. Does anyone know if the yellow flowering variant of Trillium erectum produces yellow flowering plants from seed? I have a friend near me here in northcentral PA who has a yellow flowering form and he would like to produce more. Thanks! MarkW.