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viktoria5_gw

Help identify this trillium

viktoria5
9 years ago

I just came back from Wakefield in Gatineau provincial park, where trillium blooms as far as the eye can see. After checking that they are not protected (white trillium is protected there), I dug up a couple of these for my woodland garden. I dug these up specifically because they are so different from the regular red trillium quite common in the area. I spotted them on the side of the road as we were driving by.

Note the showy sepals which are as long as the petals and each has a dark red vein down the middle; also, the sepals don't have a dark red margin, unlike other red trillium species. Also, I find that the petals on this trillium are significantly more narrow. The petals have a pale red or reddish pink colour rather than the usual burgundy red. The leaves are huge, about 5" long. The plants are very tall, around 18". The flower looks sideways towards the sun but doesn't nod; flower can be seen from above. The plant smells of wet dog, though I believe this is just my nose's interpretation of the putrid meat smell associated with certain red trilliums pollenated by flies.

Please, help me figure this out if you can. None of the trilliums I found online look like these. Where I found them, there were a couple more another twenty feet away, but those were all I found throughout the trip, and I did otherwise see seas of both white and red trillium. I don't know if this helps, but I found these on top of a hill, in a somewhat sunnier spot than the usual habitat of trillium.

Thanks in advance!

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