WAKE-ROBIN.
Trillium ovatum, Pursh. Lily Family.
Rootstock.—Thickened. Stem.—Erect; stout; a foot or more high; bearing at summit a whorl of three sessile leaves. Leaves.—Rhomboidal; acuminate; netted-veined; five-nerved; two to six inches long. Flower.—Solitary; pure white, turning to deep rose; peduncle one to three inches long. Sepals.—Three; herbaceous. Petals.—One or two inches long. Stamens.—Six. Ovary.—Three-celled. Stigmas three; sessile. Capsule.—Broadly ovate: six-winged. Hab.—The Coast Ranges, from Santa Cruz to British Columbia.
The wake-robin is in the vanguard of our spring flowers, and a walk into some high, cold cañon while the days are still dark and short will be amply rewarded by the finding of its white and peculiarly pure-looking blossoms standing upon the bank overlooking the streamlet. The blossoms remain unchanged for a time, and then, as they fade, turn to a deep purplish rose-color.
Our wake-robin so closely resembles T. grandiflorum, Salisb., of the Eastern States, that it seems a pity it should have been made into a different species.