Page 12 - OASC June 2021 Newsletter

For a seed to become a flowering plant is a longtime journey for a trillium, about 10 years in total. As the seed head of a pollinated trillium droops to the forest floor in mid-summer, it becomes soft and spongy. The 16 seeds inside are covered in a rather sweet coating which attracts woodland ants.
The ants gather the sticky seeds and drag them over to and then down into their underground storage chambers. In late fall the ants eat the sweet covering and leave the seeds untouched. After a two-year wait, when the ground becomes soft and damp with a springtime melt, the seeds will germinate and grow.
For the next five to seven years the trillium plant will produce leaves but no blossom. This time is spent collecting energy from the sun and storing it within the roots. After a short decade of this grow-and-store process, it will produce a blossom, hopefully before the canopy of maple leaves opens and creates shade on the ground below.
So if you pick a trillium for a Sunday afternoon bouquet, you are wiping out seven years of diligent growth by that plant. Although it is a perennial, the roots of the plucked plant will not re-establish a new shoot. It is dead. Enjoy your bouquet.
On a somewhat more recent note, the white trilliums are beginning to sport a trendy green stripe down the middle of each petal. Indeed, some petals are now more green than white, depending on the plant. So what’s up with that?
This green-stripe phenomenon started showing up around Burlington-Milton in the mid-1980s. Quite unique and immediately noted by botanists both professional and casual. Since then the green stripes have been showing up in forest after forest, continually moving northwards.
While not yet ‘common’ to the Orillia area, these aberrant blossoms have become scattered throughout the region.
Jury is still out as to what is causing this discolouration... some say it’s a virus-like mycoplasma. Hmm, perhaps, if I knew what a virus-like mycoplasma was, or is, I could chime in on that conversation.
But I have observed first-hand that the plants with a green stripe often have smaller leaves than a ‘healthy’ trillium, if that counts for anything.
Actual research has been ongoing toward understanding the workings of these perennial, phototrophic, members of the lily family and those learned individuals in the lab department have determined that a green-striped trillium has 58% unsuitable pollen, compared to a regular trillium with a pollen failure rate of only 3.2%. Why is that not on the evening news?
Soon the spent blossom will be turning pink so get outside if you can and take a springtime wander through a maple forest and enjoy the annual display of our provincial floral emblem. Just don’t pick it...
David Hawke is a naturalist who is well known for his outdoor writing and photography. David has worked for several agencies and organizations around Lake Simcoe. In his weekly blog, he shares his observations and insights related to our local natural environment.
https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/iconic-familiar-trillium-has-deep-roots-in-the-canadian-story-3780758?utm_source=Email&utm_ medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
[12]