Early Wildflowers of the Redwood Forest- February 2010

Trilliums or Wake Robins (white 3 petaled flower), Slink Pods (delicate white-purple flower with spotted leaves) and Redwood Sorrel (shamrock leafed) grace the cold hollows of the Redwood forest this month along with some stupendous ferns!

It is a big year for trilliums which are allusive most years but are having a big bloom with all the rain. You have to go out early in the wildflower season to see these as they bloom in winter not spring. Later in the spring and early summer, keep an eye out for native orchids or lady slippers and also native tiger lilies. So beautiful.

We saw these out at Samuel P. Taylor Park or Camp Taylor in Marin last weekend while walking along the rushing Papermill Creek. Not too many mushrooms or newts yet but the unusual flowers i.e. Slink Pods made up for that!

Update 5/22/2026– As I have traveled around the U.S. it has been interesting to see which plants thrive in a very wide range of climates. Trilliums are one of those plants. I often see them in forests near and far, and also Botanical Gardens around the U.S.. Like many plants that grow from tubers, bulbs or rhizomes, Trilliums are able to able to adapt to temperate, freezing and wet climates. The flower colors vary but the leaves are very similar. So happy to find Wake Robins thriving in so many different places.