Botanist Carl Linnaeus invented the name Trillium, since he was so impressed by the plant’s “threeness”—three stigmas to collect pollen, three white petals often fading to pink as they age, three yellow-green sepals, and three leaf-like bracts. On an extremely rare occasion, much like a four-leaf clover, one can find Quadrillium—a trillium in which everything comes in fours. Come Mother’s Day in central Minnesota, it’s usually a good time to go driving by the woods. On the right year, the forest floors can be a carpet of showy white blossoms easily seen from the road. Trillium is the state flower of Ohio and provincial flower of Ontario.

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