Bluebells and a Trillium Question

Finally had the right combination of cloudy and calm this morning to finish shooting the bluebells along Furnace Run. They are starting to drop their blooms as the rest of our early spring wildflowers begin to fade.

This area is also a good location for trillium. I found both T. grandiflorum (a bunch) and T. erectum (a few). I also found one specimen of a white trillium with a green stripe down the center of each petal. A similar flower was featured on the 2008 spring banner for MWNP. Does anyone know if this is a distinct species, or merely a variation of T. grandiflorum?

D300, 18-70 @ 35mm, 1/5 sec @ f/18, tripod, polarizer, mirror lock, remote

Very nice image, Chuck! The carpet of bluebells below and the budding trees in the BG are working very well together. I like the composition and you caught the scene in perfect conditions. Well seen and well executed!

A nice image Chuck. A couple minor nits is the small black stick in the upper right is a little distracting (maybe clone it out or crop it off), and the images seems a touch warm (kind of a faint orange hugh to it). Like I said, these are just very minor things, but it may help make a nice image better.

I have seen the ones with the green stripe at John Bryant S.P. I read somewhere (maybe here) that they are a variation on the T. grandiflorum.
The spring bloom never seems to last long enough does it?

The green stripe is caused by a disease.. The petals will have a stripe or even color the entire petal.. It's not a variation but a mutant.. I'll have to go in search of the info.. We have them in a few places around here..

http://www.photographyboard.net/rare-striped-wild-trillium-3625714.html

https://listserv.surfnet.nl/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9802&L=trillium-l&D=1&P=6321

this last link has a lot of good info..

http://www.ont-woodlot-assoc.org/sw_woodlandplants.html

Sometimes mutant plants with green striped petals are found in the Trillium grandiflorum species. These plants are diseased -- infected with parasitic mycoplasmas that cause the greening. As time passes, the mycoplasmas will cause deformity in the petals and eventually the death of the plant. Although sometimes erroneously prized for this aberrant colouring, these trilliums should be removed before the mycoplasmas can spread to affect an entire colony.

Thanks for the info, Susie. Sad to think that such a beauty could kill the entire colony. Since the plant is in the CVNP, I'll have to ask permission to remove it. (Assuming I can find it again.)

I let the owner of the property know what it is.. He has lived on the same property for 70 years or more.. It takes a long time for this disease to do wide spread damage.. He approached me to show me this flower and says he has had them sporadically thru out the years and the rest of his trillium population looks very healthy.. It is a beautiful mutant and he probably won't be removing them any time soon..

We have to do the responsible thing whenever we can.. In my wild flower hunts I've run across non- natives but only react to the particularly invasive ones.. I hate knapweed and will yank it when I can get away with it..

I do the same with garlic mustard, which is rapidly taking over everything down here.

Very pretty shot, Chuck. Nice use of the FG log.

(Interesting discussion re the mutant trillium, not incidentally.)