Trillium recurvatum

Common Names

Prairie Trillium, Bloody Butcher, Toadshade, Red Trillium, Prairie Wake-Robin, Wake Robin, Reflexed Trillium, Bloody Noses, Purple Trillium

Summary

Prairie Trillium is a woodland perennial with three mottled leaves on short stalks and a single sessile flower above them, reaching about 12–18 inches tall; it grows from rhizomes to form small woodland colonies and bears maroon to purple three-petaled flowers with reflexed green sepals, and green to purplish berry-like fruit.

It prefers partial to full shade with consistently moist, well-drained, humus-rich soils and a neutral to slightly acidic pH (about 4–7.5), and is hardy in zones 4–9; it propagates by division after flowering, while seed propagation is possible but slow, taking 5–7 years to reach flowering size, and it spreads gradually via rhizomes for woodland understory plantings.

Lifecycle

Perennial

Height

12-18 inches

Spread

6-12 inches

Hardiness Zones

Zones 4-9

Sunlight Requirements

Partial shade to full shade.

Soil Type

Moist, well-drained, humus-rich loam or clay-loam soil with neutral to acidic pH

Soil Drainage

Moist, well-drained soil

Soil pH

6.0-7.5, slightly acidic to neutral

Bloom Color

Purple to maroon; yellow; occasional white; sometimes two-colored purple and yellow

Bloom Time

Spring

Foliage Color

Mottled green

Fall Foliage Color

Bronze, Purple/Burgundy

Leaf Lifecycle

Deciduous

Growth Rate

Slow

Seasons of Interest

Spring

Propagation Methods

Seeds, Division

Attracts Wildlife

Attracts bees, moths, carrion beetles, flesh flies, Collops, Coleomegilla maculata