Trillium

Description:

Trillium has three whorled leaves with a three-petaled flower (arising from the centre of the leaves). The flowers are white, but fade to pink as it ages. Trilliums grow from an underground rhizome, which often lies horizontally under the ground. Masses of roots extend downward from the rhizome. Picking a trillium seriously injures the plant by preventing the leaf-like bracts from producing food for the next year. A plant takes many years to recover. Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants.

Habitat:

Trillium prefers well-drained soils in deciduous woods, particularly mature sugar maple and beech forests.

Notes:

Seen at Cochran Shoals park along the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, GA.