Trillium are in blossom! Eagle Trail -- wow! Now is the time to experience the varieties of growth of Giant Trillium (T. chloropetalum).
Trillium: three times three. Three broad green leaves, open wide, occasionally leopard-spotted; three sepals, somewhat red, gently cradling the flowers; three magnificent dark-red petals, thrusting upwards toward the sky. Along Eagle Trail, they grow in groups large and small. Some are at their peak, some have yet to blossom. There is even a rare yellow morph.
(If you want to see another variety of Trillium, the white Pacific Trillium (T. ovatum), check out the entrance to the Hamm's Gulch Trail, just across the bridge from the lower end of Eagle Trail, before you start to climb. I have seen one there in past years.)
Other sightings, on the way to and from Eagle Trail: grasping Man-root vines, in flower; showy Hound's Tongue; a raucaus Steller's Jay; a dogged newt; a flowering blossom tree; a deer, having a bad-hair day; and the always-welcome Bluebird, resting and posing in a young Valley Oak at the Frog Pond.
BONUS: two days later, another trail, more Trillium. Sweet Springs Trail! A few more native (even non-native) plants show off after our light late-night rain.
As you can see by the captions, I reach for my iPhone when I see flowers. Each camera has its value.
Charlie Quinn writes:
"Lovely shots, thanks for sharing, Dan!
I don’t get to correct my uncle very often (he did spell the scientific names correctly!), but it’s easy for all of us to forget that our dark, crested jay was named not because of its incredibly good looks, nor because it looks like its head popped into a very inky-black hole, but because it was first collected by western science by Georg Wilhelm Steller –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_StellerFun fact: our West Coast subspecies has blue streaks on its forehead while the Rockies version has white streaks.
Pop quiz: which other species are named after him?
Hints: a sea duck, a bird of prey and two marine mammals…among others.
Answer (with apologies for self-citing):
https://books.google.com/books?id=r2N51B-EApAC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=%22southwest+tahoe+basin%22+georg+wilhelm+steller&source=bl&ots=qHFysqCk5M&sig=ACfU3U3E-Qj68FmgnYNi4PlYsxMj1nEPQg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiTjfuJ9aHvAhVvIjQIHXM1DccQ6AEwAHoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q=%22southwest%20tahoe%20basin%22%20georg%20wilhelm%20steller&f=false"