Trillium smallii

Maxim.

Enrei-So

Melanthiaceae Edible: Fruit 11 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Summary

Trillium smallii is a compact perennial growing to 0.4 m in height, hardy to UK zone 5. Flowers appear from April to June with hermaphrodite flowers pollinated by insects. The plant adapts to full shade through open conditions and tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage. It prefers mildly acidic to basic soils and performs best in moist soil.

Description

Edible Uses

The fruit is edible, though no further details are recorded.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows near the coast. It is best in partial shade.

Where It Grows

Asia, Japan,

Cultivation

Prefers a deep well-drained woodland or humus-rich soil in a somewhat shady position that remains moist in the summer. Prefers a neutral to slightly acid soil. Grows well in open woodland. Succeeds in deep shade. Succeeds in a sunny position if the soil does not dry out. Any transplanting is best done whilst the plants are in flower. Plants can flower in two years from seed. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits, though slugs are very fond of the leaves.

Propagation

Seed is best sown in a shaded cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Stored seed should be sown in late winter or early spring. Germination typically occurs within 1–3 months at 15°c, though one account notes that seeds produce a root after the first cold stratification but no shoot until after a second winter, and another reports germination can take up to 3 years. Seedlings are prone to damping off and must be watered carefully with plenty of fresh air. Overwinter young plants in a cold frame for their first year, then plant out in late spring. Pots must not become too dry or too wet. Divide carefully when plants die down after flowering. Larger divisions can go directly into permanent positions; smaller divisions are best potted up and grown on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until well established, then planted out the following spring.

Other Uses

None known Special Uses

Notes

There are about 46 Trillium species. Also put in the family Trilliaceae.

References (3)

Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Peersbourg 29:217; Melanges Biol. Bull. Phys.-Math. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg 11:860. 1883 (Diagn. pl. nov. asiat.)
Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
Williams, D., 2017, Ainu Ethnobiology. Contributions in Ethnobiology. Society of Ethnobiology. p 114