white trillium

A Treasury of Trilliums /  by Todd Henson

A blushing great white trillium

Spring brings wildflowers, and one of the most anticipated wildflowers in Northern Virginia are the Trillium grandiflorum, of great white trilliums, of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area we visited has a forest floor absolutely covered in these beautiful flowers with shades from white to pale pink to a very vibrant darker pink. An article on the US Forest Service webpage once estimated there may be near ten million individuals in this area. It is a beautiful sight, even on a heavily fogged in day.

Trillium grandiflorum, one in ten million

Portrait of a Trillium grandiflorum

White trillium in the woodlands

A rose of a trillium. Though perhaps past its peak, this is a perfect example of how deeply pink a small number of white trillium can grow.

A fading line of Trillium grandiflorum showing some of their color variations

A foggy day on the Trillium Trail

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White Trillium From Bud to Bloom in 2024 /  by Todd Henson

Rounded petals on a small white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

My father and I were fortune to head out looking for trilliums when they just happened to be in peak bloom in Virginia on April 23, 2024. Granted, we’d visited the area earlier in April, knowing it was too early for trillium but wanting to see if there was any evidence of them yet. At that time there weren’t, but when we returned they were everywhere. I was like a kid in a candy store with only a quarter and so many sweets I wanted to try. I felt overwhelmed.

A very pink “white” trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), with mayapple leaves in the background

An emerging pink-toned white trillium bud

This glowing white trillium has narrower and wavy petals

Over the course of about an hour I managed to photograph a sampling of the flowers we found. Despite the different shapes, sizes and colors, I believe all of these are examples of Trillium grandiflorum, sometimes known as white trillium or large-flowered trillium. But please let me know in the comments below if you know otherwise.

Even a seemingly imperfect trillium can be beautiful

Light pink petals of a white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

The trillium bud begins to open

White trillium, yellow stamens

Elegance of a white trillium

The bud becoming a bloom (Trillium grandiflorum)

The glow from within (Trillium grandiflorum)

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Blushing Young Trillium /  by Todd Henson

Blushing Young Trillium

Towards the end of April my father and I were fortunate to visit a location near what appeared to be peak bloom for white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), a beautiful spring wildflower that is larger than most other spring wildflowers in this area. The forest floor was covered with flowers. It was overwhelming for me as I bounced from one flower to another, trying to find scenes that might make pleasing photographs.

I’m still going through my photos, but today I’m showing the first photo I’ve finished from this day. Instead of focusing on the trillium in full bloom I decided to go with one just opening, and to use as shallow a depth of field as I could, throwing most of the flower and background out of focus.

This particular white trillium has a lot of pink to it. There were a number of flowers with more pink than white in this area. My understanding (possibly wrong) is that they are all still Trillium grandiflorum, just with a range of colorations from white to light pink. Let me know if you know more about them.

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