''Trillium nivale'', the snow trillium or dwarf white trillium, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plant, flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered member ...

. It is native to parts of the east and midwest

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, primarily the Great Lakes States, the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

, and the

Upper Mississippi Valley The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, a city at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River. Historically, it may refer to the area above the Arkansas ...

, as far north as central

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. ''Trillium nivale'' is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

that flowers late winter or early spring, occasionally while snow is still on the ground. Along the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

valley, flowers may be seen in early March. At its northern limit in Minnesota, it blooms in early April. Along with the eastern skunk cabbage (''

Symplocarpus foetidus ''Symplocarpus foetidus'', commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage (also swamp cabbage, clumpfoot cabbage, or meadow cabbage, foetid pothos or polecat weed), is a low-growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of ...

''), ''T. nivale'' is one of the earliest flowering spring ephemerals. Given its winter hardiness, one would expect the range of ''T. nivale'' to extend farther north, but curiously this is not the case. Soon after pollination the pedicel turns downward, so that by the time the fruit is mature, it is hanging below the leaves. In June, the seeds are shed and the entire portion of the plant above ground suddenly disappears. The seeds are dispersed by ants, which may account for the low genetic diversity reported in some plant populations. ''Trillium nivale'' is smaller than many of the other species in the genus, seldom reaching a height of more than . Unlike most trilliums, it does not grow in leaf mold, preferring limy sandy gravel, crevices in limestone, or calcareous mineral soil. Like other ''Trillium'' species, ''T. nivale'' has a one-leaf vegetative stage followed by a three-leaf vegetative (juvenile) stage. After twelve or more years of vegetative growth, the plant finally reaches its three-leaf reproductive (flowering) stage. In some populations, there may be ten or more one-leaf plants to each flowering plant. The latter has an indefinite life span of many years, often living for decades.

Bibliography

References

External links

*
Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) occurrence data and maps for ''Trillium nivale''
* nivale Flora of the North-Central United States Endemic flora of the United States Ephemeral plants Least concern flora of the United States Plants described in 1835 {{Liliales-stub