Flowers:

Red trillium white variety, Trillium erectum var. album, like other trilliums has flower parts of 3 or multiples of 3. The white flower has 3 petals, 3 sepals, 3 distinct stigmas, 6 stamens and a whorl of 3 leaves just below the flower. The white flower is about 2 inches across. The white petals are straight-margined. The petals and sepals are lanceolate to ovate and hairless and about the same length. The sepals are much narrower than the petals. The sepals and petals open widely and are in the same plane.

Stamens: The filaments are short and the anthers are long. The anthers are reddish between the pollen sacs. The anthers (pollen sacs) dehisce introrsely (release pollen toward the center of the flower). The pollen is whitish yellow.

Pistil: The ovary is globose and dark red or black. The pistil is the fusion of 3 carpels, each carpel has an ovary, (style), and stigma. The fused 3 carpel ovaries result in an ovary with 6 ridges. The 3 carpel stigmas do not fuse so there are 3 distinct stigmas (not connected at the base). The 3 stigmas are wider at the base and narrows to the tip and reflexes (bends backwards). A stigma emerges at the apex of two ridges.

Trillium offers pollen.

Flower closeup:
6 stamens: filaments: short, hard to see; anthers: between the pollen sacs is reddish, pollen sacs whitish from the pollen, more pollen on the front (facing toward the center) because the pollen is release toward (introrsely) the center
pistil: large rounded ridged dark maroon ovary; 3 distinct (not connected at base) stigmas extend from the ovary ridges; stigmas are wide at the base and tapper gradually and become recurved; back side is maroon and the stigmatic surface is whitish.
In the second photo, anthers and stigmas are lit through the petals so they do not appear whitish.

Pedicel (flower stalk from leaves to flower): arises from the center of the whorl of leaves; about 2 inches long; erect; slightly bent; flower may be slightly nodding but always above the whorl of leaves

Leaves:

The whorl of 3 leaves just below the flowers are technically bracts. Some literature refer to them as leaves and others as bracts. They are sessile and up to 8 inches wide and long. They are as wide as they are long. The leaves are broadly rhombic (diamond) shaped, broadest near the middle.

The Red Trillium white variety plant has one unbranched stalk which is topped by the single terminal flower just above a 3-leaf whorl. The plant can be 15 inches tall or more. The stalk emerges from a short thick rhizome which is a specialized underground horizontal stem. Interestingly the flower stalk is technically an extension of the rhizome and is termed a scape in some of the literature.

Plant growing on hillside.

There are two varieties of red trillium, both plants are the same except for petal color:

• red petals: Trillium erectum var. erectum
• white petals: Trillium erectum var. album

More about red trillium: click here.