The stem is an above ground portion (a flowering scape) of the underground rhizome. It is smooth, green to greenish-purple and 8 to 14 inches in height. Purplish tones are typically near the base.

Leaves: In the true trilliums the leaf like parts are actually floral bracts just below the flower base. They are of course much larger than the normal small bracts of most plants, but they are equipped to fulfill the function of a leaf. These are broadly ovate, the largest of the Garden's Trilliums, with pointed tips and prominent veins. Always a whorl of three atop the stalk, they attach directly to the stalk (sessile) or have very short stalks.

Flowers: The large white flowers (2+ inches wide) are funnel shape at the base, on a mostly erect 2 to 3 inch stalk (pedicle), facing upward and outward above the large bracts giving a total height of up to 16 inches. The 3 white petals are elliptical with pointed tips, recurving above the middle section. The petals are longer than the 3 green sepals behind the petals with the sepals placed so as to appear between the petals. The petals have wavy margins and overlap toward their bases forming a tube that hides the ovary of the flower. They also show prominent veining and turn pink with age. The sepals are lanceolate in shape, spreading and sometimes with maroon streaks. Stamens number six and the anthers are thin, pale yellow to strongly yellow when pollen is ripe and recurved slightly. The stamen filaments are white and shorter than the anthers. The female ovary is white to greenish-white, composed of 3 united carpels, angled on the joint lines. The style is short with 3 erect stigmas with the tip of one spreading away from the other two.

Fruit: At maturity the fruit is a pale green berry about 1/2 inch wide with 3 angles that appear as 6, resembling the ovary. It is pulpy and moist but not juicy and contains the seeds. Read Eloise Butler's notes below.

Trilliums are tedious to start from seed as they must have a cold moist period, followed by a warm moist period, followed by another cold moist period, each period of at least 60 to 90 days. Planted in soil, they will thus germinate in the 2nd Spring. Then they will take 3 to 5 years before they flower. Former Garden Curator Martha Crone wrote about a quicker method to produce more plants.

"Rather than wait for this slow process I find a much faster method is to transplant individual plants and at the same time injure the corm. The following year many stalks are produced on this single corm. This method has produced 25 blooming stalks from one corm. Following their first blooming they should be separated and planted individually." from The Fringed Gentian™, Vol. 6 No. 1

Habitat: Large-flowered Trillium grows from thick rhizomes and will spread into a nice clump overtime if left undisturbed. Like most Trilliums it will grow best in well drained soil in light full shade or dappled sun under the tree canopy. The plant dies back to dormancy by mid summer. The plant is unfortunately, subject to invasion by mycoplasmas which cause deformations such as multiple bracts, odd colorations and doubling of petals.

NOTE: Picking the flower will cause the plant to stop flowering for several years.

Names: The genus name Trillium, is derived from the Latin trilix, meaning 'triple' and referring to the flowers having parts of three. The species grandiflorum, means 'large flowered'.

The author names for the plant classification are: ‘Michx.’ refers to Andre Michaux (1746-1802), French botanist who made many exploring expeditions in the U.S. collecting and cataloging many species. Two important works of his are the Histoire des chênes de l'Amérique septentrionale (1801 - Oaks of North America), and the Flora Boreali-Americana (2 vols., 1803, published posthumously, containing the description of this species). His son Francois, traveled with him and the father’s notes were later used for the 3-volume North American Sylva. Michaux's descriptions were modified in 1805 by ‘Salisb.’, which is Richard Anthony Salisbury, (1761-1829), British botanist who developed an extensive garden and published many taxonomic revisions, but much of his work was plagiarized and discredited, however some of his work has been reinstated such as here.

The alternate common name of 'wake-robin,' of English origin, has been applied to many Trillium species, apparently because the Trilliums tend to bloom during the time that the robins are arriving in the northern latitudes.

New Family: There is a movement among botanists to segregate the Trilliums and a few other genera out of the Liliaceae Family and into the Melanthiaceae. The U of M Herbarium has made this change on their Minnesota checklist but Flora of North America has not yet published this.

Comparisons: One of the two large Trilliums in the Garden that have an erect flower stalk (the other the Purple Trillium).