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Nodding Trillium

Trillium cernuum

CommonPlant
Illustration of Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum)

Nodding Trillium is a spring wildflower of moist northern forests whose white flowers nod beneath the leaves on a bent stalk, making them less visible but more accessible to crawling insect pollinators. It grows in cool, moist, shaded forests across northern North America from the Atlantic to the Rockies. Ants disperse the seeds via elaiosomes.

Habitat
Cool, moist deciduous forests and floodplains across northern North America
Diet
Flowers pollinated by flies; seeds dispersed by ants
How common
Common

Best time to see a Nodding Trillium

The best time to see a Nodding Trillium is April–May, when about 64% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 4,765 research-grade iNaturalist observations.

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