Michigan Plants: Trillium

Large-flowered Trillium by ER Post

The most common species of trillium in Michigan is Trillium Grandiflorum or the Large-flowered Trillium. This plant has a large, often white three-petaled flower above three broad bracts that look like leaves.

Picking the flowers of Trillium can seriously injure the plant. The three leaves below the flower are the plant’s only food source and a picked trillium may die or take many years to recover. For this reason in many areas, e.g. British Columbia, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Washington, it is illegal to pick trilliums.

For more on this beautiful and protected Spring flower read Flower Power by Jim Rink from the archives of the Northern Michigan Journal.