Growth Habit / Form:  Upright, Clump

Growth Rate:  Slow to Moderate

Sun Needs:  Part Shade to Full Shade, avoid direct afternoon sun

Water Needs:  Average

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An easily grown native flowering perennial plant that prefers life on the shady side, Trillium grandiflorum, commonly known as Great White Trillium, is a simple, graceful perennial that is one of the most familiar and beloved of the spring woodland wildflowers in eastern North America. It is native to rich woods and thickets from Quebec to Ontario to Minnesota south to Alabama and Georgia. The plant is produced from underground rhizomes that send up a stout, unbranched, naked stem in spring that rises 12 to 18 inches tall, topped by a whorl of three ovate, prominently veined green leaves up to 6 inches long. In mid to late spring, a short 3-inch stem rises from the center of these 3 leaves bearing a showy 3-petaled flower 3 to 4 inches across, the largest we've seen among Trilliums. The wavy-edged petals are pure-white developing pink tones as they age. A single, red berry up to 1-inch in diameter follows the flower. Ants transport the berry underground, where they eat it and leave the seeds, which is one of the primary ways the plant is spread. One of those plants that will always have you looking forward to spring.

The Genus name Trillium means "triple lily," in reference to the way the plant's leaves and flower petals occur in threes.