Eastern hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) is sometimes referred to as the “redwood of the east”, and once-upon-a-time, this was absolutely the case; great expanses of virgin hemlock forest cooled headwater streams and created their own unique ecology.  But these old growth forests are largely gone now, with only a few remnant stands scattered along the Appalachian spine. A spring hike through a pristine stand of these gentle giants is an experience to be treasured, providing a rare connection to a primeval world nearly lost to us.

From top: Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), a lover of old hemlock and spruce forests and the most beautiful and delicate of all the trilliums to bloom in this area; marsh blue violet (Viola cucullata), a moisture-loving violet with club-like hairs at the throat of its flower; heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), which clumps gorgeously at the edges of seeps and brooks; halberd-leaved yellow violet (Viola hastata), an Appalachian endemic with sword-like leaves; and a red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) on a perilous journey in search of a pond environment, where it will eventually transform into an adult newt. 

Painted Trillium by vulture on iNaturalist.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Trillium undulatum

The rapid growth of the Wild Seed Project coincided with a broader war on lawns gaining traction across the country. Lawns in the U.S. cover a land mass about the size of Iowa, accounting for as much as half of all residential water consumption and a quarter of the use of several popular herbicides. Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment puts an estimated 20 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, and the emissions footprint of nitrogen-heavy lawn fertilizers is as bad or worse. Across the country, particularly in the parched West, cities and towns have started mandating the removal of turf grass and incentivizing permaculture, and more-naturalistic lawn alternatives have even begun catching on in New England, as the region slogs through years of severe drought.

Out in the Butler Sanctuary, as McCargo led her group around the rhododendron patch, she squatted down to show off a little woodland wildflower: Trillium undulatum. Commonly called painted trillium, it had three pale petals with a blush of crimson at their center. Ants typically disperse trillium seed, McCargo said, attracted by a nutrient-rich crest atop each seed. But the insects, she explained, rarely carry the seed more than 20 feet — which, as it happens, is the average width of a two-lane road. Wild Seed Project’s deceptively simple mission — plant seeds, mostly natives, just about anywhere — is a response to such habitat fragmentation and destruction, which has displaced native plants like painted trillium and kept it from regaining a foothold, making landscapes less biodiverse and less resilient to a changing climate. “It doesn’t have to be a shopping mall or a road — if you have a lawn, they can’t get across it,” McCargo said. “Humans put up all these obstacles.”

#Trillium undulatum Willd

Massive Dutchmen’s pipe leaves and a painted quadrillium at Fernow

Love, as tender and lush and trembling as a spring frond, parting black earth // Part 9

Painted Trillium Trillium undulatum

This past spring the Red Trillium was incredibly common on the property but it took about a week of extensive searching before I found the painted trillium with the guidance of my mother.

Every once in a while, when I explain the idea of invasive species to a layman, I'll hear the common lament that "all the pretty flowers seem to be the invasive ones". I feel like the Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum) is objective proof that that idea is incorrect; that some of the most indescribably beautiful, ornate species are native to our own backyards and now, more than ever, are in need of our protection, as well as our admiration.

Painted Trillium by B A Bowen Photography grow at high elevations and bloom preferably at the end of April - beginning of May.

Ontario Trilliums ranked by rarity (commonest to rarest)

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)

Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum)

Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)

Drooping Trillium (Trillium flexipes) (Endangered, only 2 wild populations left)

Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum) (1 population. Debate on it being naturalized)

Contrary to what nurseries may brand/sell/tell you, Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum) is not native to Ontario.

Although located adjacent to Ohiopyle State Park, Bear Run Nature Reserve gets significantly less tourist foot traffic than its noisy, crowded neighbor, probably due to a lack of beer and funnel cakes within walking distance.  It’s a gorgeous place for a hike at any time of the year, but especially in the spring and fall. The reserve is owned and operated by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and includes Frank Lloyd Wright’s triumph of form over function, Fallingwater.  Someday, when I can better organize and address the many priorities of my life, I’ll schedule a tour of the revolutionary edifice that chased away Edward Kaufman and his family. Today, however, I settled for a lovely spring hike.

From top: golden ragwort (Packera aurea), perhaps the spring wildflower I miss most when its radiant yellow flowers die back; a pair of wood anemones (Anemone quinquefolia), which often mass impressively at woodland margins; Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), a master colonizer that overtakes fallen stumps and rocks as easily as it does rich, moist soil; Indian cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana), a whorled perennial with an edible root that tastes like . . . you guessed it; and a delicate painted trillium (Trillium undulatum) rising from the moss at the edge of a stream.

Painted Trillium by vulture on iNaturalist.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum) is a wildflower of the genus trillium found from Ontario in the north to northern Georgia in the south and from Michigan in the west to Nova Scotia in the east.

Trillium undulatum

20200428  MP239.3 Blue Ridge Parkway  North Carolina   Bluff Mountain Trail

Painted Trillium    Trillium undulatum