May 16.  I love taking pictures of this spring ephemeral, a plant that sets its clock by its estimated time in the early woodland sunshine. Life above ground every year is fleeting.  But life below ground is enduring.  Trillium, in this case Trillium grandiflorum, or “the great white,” lives for 25 years, give or take.  This familiar woodland flower is a species of lily that spreads slowly via underground rhizomes. Bumblebees love this early source of nutritious pollen, and they and other bees help fertilize the flower.  Fruits contain 15 or so seeds which are known to be dispersed by ants, yellow jackets, mice and deer, at a minimum.  Seeds sit dormant for many months before germinating and finally growing above-ground shoots.  In about 7 years, a new plant is able to flower.

Our north-facing woods warmed faster than usual this year because the blackened soil soaked up lots of sunshine after our controlled burn in early April.  Over the years, our trillium colony (or drift) has expanded noticeably:  flowers were seen headed down to highway F and climbing up to our north firebreak at the edge of the savannas where the red-headed woodpeckers fly.  Who says plants can’t move!