The stem is an above ground portion (a flowering scape) of the underground rhizome. It is smooth, green to greenish-purple and 8 to 16 inches in height. Purplish color tones are most prominent near the base.

Leaves: In the true trilliums the leaf like parts are actually bracts just below the flower base. They are of course much larger than the normal bract that you see, but they are equipped to fulfill the function of a leaf. Like the other Trilliums, the bracts are in a whorl of 3 atop the scape. These bracts are stalkless or with a barely noticeable stalk, bright green in color, oval to rhombic in shape, with prominent veining and a pointed tip.

Flower: Nodding Trillium has 1-1/2 inch wide white flowers with three lance-like petals and 3 green spreading sepals, which are slightly shorter than the petals or of equal length. The petals are reflexed and extend backward behind the plane of the sepal bases by more than half their length which distinguishes it from Drooping Trillium where do not reflex nearly that much. They can be pale pink in color, but not frequently. Petals are also very thin and the veining is not conspicuous. There are six stamens with slender white filaments. The anthers are straight, not more than 1/4 inch long and range in color from pale lavender to pink to gray. Female flower parts are white to pinkish, becoming yellowish at maturity. The ovary consists of 3 united carpels, widest near the base, strongly 6-angled. The style is short, with a thick base and has 3 stigmas tapering to recurved tips. The flower is solitary and usually nodding beneath the bracts on a 1/2 to 2 inch long stalk (pedicle).

Fruit: The flower matures to a dark red ovoid shaped, 6-angled fleshy seed capsule that has an aroma of fruit. Read Eloise Butler's notes below in the bottom page section. Trilliums are tedious to start from seed as they must have a cold moist period, followed by a warm moist period, followed by another cold moist period, each period of at least 60 to 90 days. Planted in soil, they will thus germinate in the 2nd Spring. Then they will take 3 to 5 years before they flower.

Habitat: Nodding Trillium grows from a thick rhizome which will slowly spread to create a clump of plants if left undisturbed. Plant it in light shade to dappled shade beneath the tree canopy in moist but well drained soil. The plant dies back to dormancy by mid summer.

Names: The genus name Trillium, is derived from the Latin trilix, meaning 'triple' and referring to the flowers having parts of three. The species name, cernuum, means 'drooping' or 'nodding'. The author name for the plant classification - 'L.' refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. The alternate common name of Whip-poor-will flower has been applied to many Trillium species, apparently because the Trilliums tend to bloom during the time that Whip-poor-will birds do a lot of singing. The same applies to the name 'wake-robin' which has been appended to many Trilliums also - it is primarily a British term - apparently because the Trilliums tend to bloom during the time that the robins are arriving in the northern latitudes.

New Family: There is a movement among botanists to segregate the Trilliums and a few other genera out of the Liliaceae Family and into the Melanthiaceae. The U of M Herbarium has made this change on their Minnesota checklist but Flora of North America has not yet published this.

Compare to Drooping Trillium where the flower droops on its pedicle but remains above the bracts and the petals have prominent veining.