st bruno red trilliun

Red trillium (Trille rouge, Trillium erectum) grows on the forest floor as a spring ephemeral before the leaves of the trees are fully open and block the light. The flowers are pollenated by flies and are said to smell of rotting meat, (for which reason they are sometimes called stinking Benjamins), although I have not noticed this. The outer coat of the seeds is very attractive to ants, which carry them to their nests, and in this way distribute the seeds through the forest. Unfortunately the plants are equally attractive to deer, and a recent explosion of deer numbers in the locality has diminished the numbers of trilliums that can be seen each spring.