Field of Science

A Trillium by any other name would still have 3 leaves

For reasons that cannot be fully explained, other than they were cheap, the Phactor bought a package of six "white trillium". That certainly doesn't definitively tell you what you had bought, but what with lots of shady areas, and a big area to transform into a woodland wonderland of spring ephemerals, more trilliums could not hurt. All six corms grew and here's the score: Trillium ceruum, nodding trillium, which is white - 4, Trillium sessile, toadshade - 1, Trillium erectum, red trillium & several other common names - 1. So in general this is a happy enough outcome. Nodding trillium was new to our gardens as was the toadshade, so our species diversity went up by 2. Our gardens already have Trillium grandiflora, T. recurvatum, T. erectum, and T. luteum, so in a way this was a pretty good deal, but honestly, the actual name of the plant being sold should be known, and in a manner of speaking we have an honest claim that they owe us two white trilliums because it was their sloppy handling that mixed the corms so that the order included two non-white trilliums, or cynically, white trillium was selling well and not others, so lets stretch the inventory by a third. Who knows. Any similar stories to share?

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