westward as Ontario and Missouri, and south to Georgia, is the Nodding
Wake-Robin (_T. cernuum_), whose white or pinkish flower droops from its
peduncle until it is all but hidden under the whorl of broadly rhombic,
tapering leaves. The wavy margined petals, about as long as the
sepals--that is to say, half an inch long or over--curve backward at
maturity. One finds the plant in bloom from April to June, according to
the climate of its long range.

* * * * *

Perhaps the most strikingly beautiful member of the tribe is the Painted
Trillium (_T. undulatum_ or _T. erythrocarpum_). At the summit of the
slender stem, rising perhaps only eight inches, or maybe twice as high,
this charming flower spreads its long, wavy-edged, waxy-white petals
veined and striped with deep pink or wine color. The large ovate leaves,
long-tapering to a point, are rounded at the base into short petioles.
The rounded, three-angled, bright red, shining berry is seated in the
persistent calyx. With the same range as the nodding trillium's, the
Painted Wake-Robin comes into bloom nearly a month later--in May and
June--when all the birds are not only wide awake, but have finished
courting, and are busily engaged in the most serious business of life.


Purple Trillium, Ill-scented Wake-Robin, or Birth-root

_Trillium erectum_

_Flowers_--Solitary, dark, dull purple, or purplish red; rarely
greenish, white, or pinkish; on erect or slightly inclined footstalk.
Calyx of 3 spreading sepals, 1 to 1-1/2 in. long, or about length of 3