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Red
(Sessile) Trillium (Trillium sessile)
Flower 1-1 ˝ in., plant
4-10 in., Lily family
Trilliums come in several
colors – white, yellow, “painted” pink-and-white, and several reds! But only
one of the reds is “sessile,” which means its flower and leaves have no
stalks. Its single maroon bloom is small and not showy, tucked snugly in the
center of its leaves. Its leaves are mottled with shades of green like
camouflage. Like most trilliums, sessile trillium blooms in woodsy
bottomlands in April.
The trillium gets its name
because it has three (Latin tri) of everything: three leaves, three
petals, three sepals (little “leaflets” at the base of a flower).
Native Americans used the
roots and other parts of the versatile sessile trillium as an eye medicine,
a red dye, and a love potion.
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