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Don't Pick The Trillium! Foresters Urge

Umpqua National Forest

Oregon forest managers urge people not to pick trillium when hiking in the woods. The white blossoms are an early blooming wildflower in the Pacific Northwest.

When trillium gets yanked from the ground in the spring it can prevent the plants from surviving into the next year. Cheryl Caplan is a spokeswoman with Umpqua National Forest.
Caplan: “We have noticed that along trails like the popular North Umpqua Trail, which is along the North Umpqua River, that there have been trilliums picked and then just dropped on the ground. And occasionally, it’s young people, who don’t know better, that are picking them to give to their parents.”

Credit Umpqua National Forest

Caplan says this is an opportunity to teach children to leave no trace and instead of pick the flowers, take a picture.
Trillium can grow to be very old, according to a forest botanist. There are trilliums in the Siskiyous that are more than 80 years old.
 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.