"Picking a trillium seriously injures the plant by preventing the leaf-like bracts from producing food for the next year. A plant takes many years to recover. It is a popular belief in many jurisdictions that picking trilliums is illegal. Some species of trillium are listed as threatened or endangered; picking these species may be illegal. Laws in some jurisdictions may restrict the commercial exploitation of trilliums and prohibit collection without the land owners permission. In Michigan, Minnesota and New York it is illegal to pick and/or transplant trilliums from public lands without a permit from the State. However, in these three states, trillium species which are not threatened or endangered may be picked on privately owned land with the land owners consent.
While it is a popular belief that it is illegal to pick the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in Ontario, in reality they are only protected in provincial parks and land owned by conservation authorities. However, the rare Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) is protected by law in Ontario, because of its very small Canadian population.
Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants. At maturity, the base and core of the trillium ovary turns soft and spongy. Trillium seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants extract the seeds from the decaying ovary and take them to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage, where they germinate in a rich growing medium.
The large white trillium is the official wildflower of Ohio."
Taken from wikipedia's page at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...
