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Bruce Murden
05-12-2009, 08:55 AM
Sure, I started to photograph trillium in the woods near my house. But I found a rarity -- a quintillium! This is the first time I remember seeing a trillium with too many petals (it also had five leaves). I couldn't get as low as I wanted to due to the terrain, so this was the best angle I could find on this genetic accident.

Nikon D80, Nikkor 105mm macro, ISO 100, 1/320 s @ f/5, (there was enough breeze to prevent slower exposures, and I forgot to increase the ISO).
Julie Kenward
05-12-2009, 04:28 PM
Yes, a lower angle would have been nice but I like it here as well. Good focus on the stamen and the lower leaves. Love the bokeh in the BG...nice touch! I can't tell for sure but is there a color cast on the whites of the flower? I like it even if there is...it softens it a bit.

Where does one find trillium? Is it a deep woods plant? I don't think I've ever run across any in KC.
Jackie Schuknecht
05-12-2009, 07:55 PM
This is neat Bruce, I never knew there was a name for a four-leaf trillium, let alone seeing one. Julie trilliums are in the woods and seem to prefer cool, shade, and damp. Don't know how far south they are.
Mike Moats
05-12-2009, 08:32 PM
Hey Bruce, good job, like the flower details and the BG looks interesting.
Bruce Murden
05-13-2009, 10:48 PM
Thanks all! Julie - I also see a bit of yellow cast. It was a couple of hours after sunrise, so the color cast should have been lessened. Looks more like a missed WB adjustment when processing in LR2 (calibrate the darn laptop monitor when working without the external monitor!).

As Jackie said, in the woods, early to mid spring, in shade and at forest edges -- but searching for varieties in MO finds only the endangered Trillium flexipes (one of my sources for info is [/URL][URL="http://www.wildflower.org/plants"]www.wildflower.org/plants (http://www.wildflower.org) and they list states where species can be found).

Quintillium is just my made-up name for this 5-leaved/petaled genetic accident. It's really just a Trillium grandiflora, with a defect producing 5 petals & leaves (not truly leaves, but that's a lesson for another day).