White wake robin is Missouri's largest trillium. It has white petals, and the flower droops or hangs sideways. Look for this species in eastern and east-central Missouri, and in counties bordering the Missouri River.
Habit: As with other trilliums, white wake robin is perennial, and there is a single flower per stem, with a single whorl of 3 leaves at the top of the stem and a single flower above the leaves.
The flowers are large, to 2½ inches across, triangular, with 3 white petals and 3 lance-shaped green sepals. The flower is either horizontal or drooping below the leaves when in bloom. (Elsewhere, the petals may be pink to dark purple.)
Blooms April–May.
The leaves are 3, heart-shaped, pointed, large, in a whorl, usually as broad as long, to 9 inches long, green but not mottled.
Similar species: There are 7 species of Trillium in Missouri. White wake robin's large size and stalked, white, nodding or horizontally spreading flowers help to identify it. Two other species can have white-petaled flowers:
- Snow, or dwarf white trillium (T. nivale) has white petals that are sometimes pinkish at the base. The flowers are stalked but are held erect. It is uncommon, mostly in northeast Missouri, plus a disconnected population in Daviess County. It’s the smallest and earliest-blooming trillium in our state and often forms colonies. A species of conservation concern.
- Ozark wake robin (T. pusillum) has white, pink, or purplish-pink petals and is limited to about four counties in southern Missouri. A species of conservation concern.
Our other trilliums have flowers that aren't white, and the flowers are sessile (not stalked), seemingly resting upon the whorl of 3 leaves:
- Purple trillium, bloody butcher, or purple wake robin (T. recurvatum), has maroon or purplish (rarely yellow or yellowish green) petals. Its sepals curve to point downward at flowering time, and the leaf bases narrow to form a stem. It is common in eastern Missouri, scattered in central and southern Missouri.
- Wake robin, or toadshade (T. sessile), has maroon to brick red (rarely yellowish green) petals. Its sepals spread flat or ascend at flowering time, and the leaves are sessile (stalkless). The flowers of this species have a fetid aroma. Green-flowered specimens are sometimes confused with green trillium (T. viride). It is common in all but the northern third of the state.
- Green trillium (T. viride) has green or yellowish-green petals, sometimes with a purplish tinge. The flowers of this species have a musty or spicy odor similar to that of rotting apples. The leaves are blunt or only broadly pointed. It is scattered in the eastern half of Missouri, both north and south of the Missouri River.
- Green trillium (T. viridescens) has green or yellowish-green petals, sometimes with a purplish tinge. The leaves are sharp-pointed. It is scattered mostly in the southwestern Ozarks, with another population in Jefferson County.
Height: to 2 feet. This is the largest trillium in Missouri.
Scattered in eastern and east-central Missouri. Look for it in our eastern counties and in counties bordering the Missouri River.
Habitat and Conservation
Occurs on rich, wooded slopes and in bottomland forests, generally on east- or north-facing hills, and along streams, bottoms, and lower slopes of valleys and ravines.
Status
Native Missouri wildflower.
Human Connections
Some species of trilliums were used historically in herbal medicine, but the most common human use of these flowers today is in gardening.
Trilliums are popular in shade gardens but are difficult to grow from seed. This has led to unethical collecting from the wild. However, many plants do not survive transplanting. Please be aware of the sources for your plants, and insist on nursery-grown plants from cultivated stocks. Please don’t collect from the wild. Instead, buy from reputable native wildflower nurseries.
Ecosystem Connections
Trilliums use their leaves to produce energy to store in their rhizomes, so that they have strength to bloom again the next spring. Because trilliums only have 3 leaves, which are so close to the flowers, picking trillium flowers removes the plant’s ability to feed itself.
Botanists have long debated the relationships among the plants traditionally considered lilies. Formerly placed in the lily family or the trillium family, this plant and its close relatives are now in a family called the Melanthiaceae (mel-anth-ee-AY-cee-ee).
- Breaking up the lily family into several other families means they are now organized according to their true genetic relationships. But if you try to describe the differences among these families using the actual forms of the plants, it is very difficult, since they share so many characteristics.
- Globally, there are about 17 genera in the Melanthiaceae.
