Trillium

I spotted these Trillium Flowers
at Newman Lake last weekend.

Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ant and mice. Trillium seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage, where they can are protected until they germinate. They also get the added bonus of growing in a medium made richer by the ant garbage.



"Indian women [in North America] claimed that boiled trillium root could arouse a man's love."
—Text from "Wildflowers Across America," April 1988, National Geographic magazine