05/04/2024
DID YOU KNOW??? You should never pick a Trillium, because:
1. It takes 9 years after germination for a Trillium to flower.
2. Each flower yields only ONE seed pod each year.
3. Each plant can live up to 25 years, and gains all of its nourishment for the remainder of the year during the spring when its leaves are present.
4. Trillium are propagated by ANTS. Not the wind, or birds. The seeds are covered by a sweet coating which entices the ants to carry seeds underground into their colonies. After eating the coating, the seed germinates in the perfect subterranean environment.
5. Every little colony of Trillium you may happen upon could be decades old.
Every Trillium in the forest is essentially a little miracle.
Photo of Trillium in Rockbridge County VA, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, by Jason Rinehart.
