About Trillium decumbens Harb.
Trillium decumbens Harb. is a perennial herbaceous plant that flowers from mid-March to April. Its dark maroon flower petals are long and twisted, and held upright when the flower is in full bloom. The flowers give off a strong foul odor. Unlike most other trilliums, its stems grow along the ground, a growth habit called decumbent, rather than growing upright. Because of this stem growth, the whole plant appears to lie on the surrounding leaf litter. This distinctive growth habit was what first caught the attention of the plant's discoverer, Charles Lawrence Boynton. Its leaves have a mottled pattern of green and silver. The leaves die back early in the growing season, while the fruit, a dark purple berry, is still developing. By early autumn, the fully ripe fruit sits on a stalk with no surrounding leaves.
