Trillium nivale?

[Shadylanejewel]

Are these really Trillium nivale?

[Lesley Cox]

They look very like the nivale foliage. The other option could be pusillum in one or another form.

[TheOnionMan]

My first bloom on T. nivale opened today, posted here for comparison.

[Shadylanejewel]

Hi Lesley,

Thank you for answering.  I bought these as nivale and was very disappointed when they came up as they look just like my pusillum to me.  Of course, none of the five look like they will bloom this year.

The leaves were very dark burgundy coming up and still retain a flush of the burgundy color just like my pusillums.  All three of the books I have on Trillium list the leaf color of nivale as blue-green and never mention having a burgundy color.

So darn, still don't know if they are or are not nivale.  It's not that I don't love pusillum, I do but I already had at least 100 pusillum plants and no nivale.    I requested seed from the list this year, but didn't receive any.

[Shadylanejewel]

Thank you Mark.  I'm going to go take some more photos and some measurements.  I really think these are pusillum sold as nivale.

[TheOnionMan]

Julie, it very well could be that the plants are not mature enough to display their true leaf type, they do look a bit wider and oval shaped like T. nivale, but the reddish leaf tone may very well indicate T. pusillum.  Of course if it blooms it should be easier to tell, as pusillum typically has narrower petals, often with undulate edges.  I think you're just going to have to wait until it blooms, and it sounds like you'll have to wait another year.

[Shadylanejewel]

Yes I will need to wait until they bloom for a positive id.

However, I did go measure them.  Right now the height is 9 cm (at about a week's growth) tall already when T. nivale tops out at around 9 cm.  Also the leaves are not distinctly petioled.  They don't really have much of any petiole.  They also have three distinct leaf veins, whereas, T. nivale appears to have five leaf veins with prominent secondary veins.

If you wouldn't mind, could you check your nivale(s) esp any immature ones to see if they are distinctly petioled - that would be wonderful.

Attached is a photo of a pair of T. pusillum var. pusillum taken last year.

Your T. nivales are wonderful!

[Rick R.]

The wild Trillium nivale, in Minnesota (USA) at least, have no hint of red in the stems or leaves.

[Shadylanejewel]

The wild Trillium nivale, in Minnesota (USA) at least, have no hint of red in the stems or leaves.

That's what I was wondering.  I remember visiting my aunt and uncle in St. Paul as a child and seeing T. nivale somewhere.  I thought they were very very short Easter lilies which is what we called T. ovatum.  I do remember the leaves being quite a bluish color.  But that was quite a number of years ago, 42 to be exact.