pointed, oval petals; stamens, 6; anthers longer than filaments; pistil
spreading into 3 short, recurved stigmas. _Stem:_ Stout, 8 to 16 in.
high, from tuber-like rootstock. _Leaves:_ In a whorl of 3; broadly
ovate, abruptly pointed, netted-veined. _Fruit:_ A 6-angled, ovate,
reddish berry.

_Preferred Habitat--Rich_, moist woods.

_Flowering Season_--April-June.

_Distribution_--Nova Scotia westward to Manitoba, southward to North
Carolina and Missouri.

Some weeks after the jubilant, alert robins have returned from the
South, the Purple Trillium unfurls its unattractive, carrion-scented
flower. In the variable colors found in different regions, one can
almost trace its evolution from green, white, and red to purple, which,
we are told, is the course all flowers must follow to attain to blue.
The white and pink forms, however attractive to the eye, are never more
agreeable to the nose than the reddish-purple ones. Bees and
butterflies, with delicate appreciation of color and fragrance, let the
blossom alone, since it secretes no nectar; and one would naturally
infer either that it can fertilize itself without insect aid--a theory
which closer study of its organs goes far to disprove--or that the
carrion-scent, so repellent to us, is in itself an attraction to certain
insects needful for cross-pollination. Which are they? Beetles have been
observed crawling over the flower, but without effecting any methodical
result. One inclines to accept Mr. Clarence M. Weed's theory of special
adaptation to the common green flesh-flies (_Lucilia carnicina_), which
would naturally be attracted to a flower resembling in color and odor a