New Brunswick has four species of Trilliums. They are in full bloom now and worth finding in order to enjoy their beauty. Trilliums are in the Lily Family and are spring flowers growing in woodlands, especially hardwoods. Their leaves are in a single whorl of 3 and the single flowers are large. Everything comes in 3s with trilliums; 3 petals, 3 sepals, 3 leaves.
The Painted Trillium grows 8-20″ high. The flower (shown above) is white with beautiful crimson veining at the base of each petal. It likes coniferous woods more than the other species.
The Nodding Trillium grows 6-20″ high and hides its flower by suspending it under the leaves. It ‘nods’ beneath the leaves. The flower is white with pink anthers. The petals are curved backward at the tips. It likes rich deciduous woods and floodplains. It is also called Birthroot because native people once used the root to assist in childbirth.
The Purple Trillium is probably our most common trillium. It is found in hardwood forests. It grows 6-20″ high. Its beautiful purple colour is good to look at but don’t try to smell this one; it has a foul odour. That explains why it is sometimes called Stinking Benjamin.
The White Trillium is our largest and rarest trillium. It is the provincial flower of Ontario and occurs here in only one or two known places. It grows 12-20″ high. Its flower is 2-4″ wide and is very showy. The white flower turns pink with age. It is easy to distinguish from the Nodding Trillium which also has a white flower because the White Trillium’s flower is upright and much larger. It also has yellow stamens, differing from the pink anthers of the Nodding Trillium. The White Trillium is sometimes called the Large-flowered Trillium.
On February 18, 2026, Gart Bishop presented a fascinating and informative workshop on how to identify New Brunswick trees and shrubs during the winter. Gart, Liz Mills, Bev Schneider and Clay Merrithew, all “Friends of the Herbarium”, collected fresh branch and twig specimens from local trees and shrubs. Specimens, some with attached catkins and fruit, covered two long tables in the lab, and books covered a third table.
Here are a few of the books:
• Stocek, Rudolf F. (1991) New Brunswick Trees and Shrubs in Winter:/ A Field Guide. Canada-New Brunswick Cooperation Agreement on Forest Development. -Excellent diagrams throughout the book.
• Farrar, John Laird (1995) Trees in Canada. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd./Canadian Forestry Service. -Keys for winter identification of deciduous trees to genus or species level are located at the back of the book.
• White, J. H. And R. C. Hosie (1968). The Forest Trees of Ontario. Department of Land and Forest. -A small book that includes a simple key for identification of native deciduous trees in the winter.
Gart began the PowerPoint presentation by illustrating select species, and showing us how to identify them without the presence of leaves, flowers and in most cases, fruit. Identifying deciduous trees and shrubs in the winter can be difficult, but by examining certain features and asking simple questions, you can succeed. Diagnostic features include: 1. Branching pattern or leaf bud arrangement. Alternate or opposite? 2. Leaf buds. Size, shape, number of scales or no scales, hairs or no hairs, sticky? 3. Stipule scar. Shape? 4. Pith. Colour, shape? 5. Twig. Colour, lenticels, odour when scraped or peeled? 6. Bark. Colour, texture? 7. Fruit. Any remaining fruit? What does it look like? 8. Flower buds. Visible? 9. Unique features. Galls?
Using dissecting kits and microscopes, we examined the fresh specimens. Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides), a common early flowering shrub, has opposite buds and no bud scales. Willows (Salix spp.), common early flowering shrubs, have alternate compressed buds with only one bud scale. I learned that you can easily identify Red-tipped Willow (S. eriocephala) by the presence of pinecone galls on the tips of some branches. Pinecone gall is almost exclusively found on this willow species.
Some species such as Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) have alternate buds with many bud scales. When you peel or scrape the bark of Chokecherry you can smell a bitter earthy odour from hydrogen cyanide released by the fresh tissue. The desiccated light brown leaves of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) often remain on the tree until late winter which makes identification easy. However another diagnostic feature are the large, long, narrow buds with imbricate scales and a visible stipule scar present even when the leaves have fallen off.
Alder (Alnus spp.) is a thicket forming shrub, but two common species in New Brunswick can be difficult to differentiate. The stalked buds of Speckled Alder (A. incana ssp. rugosa) distinguish this species from Green Alder (A. viridis ssp. crispa). Separate male and female catkins (monoecious) often remain on the branches during the winter, and are helpful for identification.
Pith colour can help you distinguish between similar looking species. Black Elder (Sambucus canadensis) has a white pith and Stinking Elder (S. racemosa) has an orange pith. Butternut (Juglans cinerea), a declining tree species due to Butternut canker disease, has alternate buds, a long terminal bud, and is the only native species with a chambered pith. You can clearly see the chambered pith when you cut the branch on the diagonal.
Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), a monoecious shrub, has male and female flowers that open in early spring before the leaves. The male catkins are visible in the winter, but the female flowers are hidden in tiny buds. The female flower buds are rounder than the leaf buds.
Corylus cornuta, male catkin- S.BelfryCorylus cornuta, female flower- S.Belfry
Birch trees (Betula spp.) have alternate buds and when young the different species can look similar. You can easily identify Yellow Birch (B. alleghaniensis) by scraping the bark to release the wintergreen odour. Odour is also a diagnostic feature of Sweet Gale (Myrica gale), a common shrub in bogs. When you crush the buds, a nutmeg odour is released.
These are just a few examples of the species we examined during the Botany Blast workshop, and the skills we acquired to identify trees and shrubs during the winter. Walking in the winter woods of New Brunswick is magical. Knowing the names of the trees and shrubs surrounding you makes the walk even better.
Keelie Taylor (left) and Hannah Lazaris-Dellen (right) in the Connell Memorial Herbarium.
We have been so fortunate to have Keelie Taylor and Hannah Lazaris-Dellen volunteering in the Herbarium for the past 24 months! Both are UNB students who have dedicated many hours to helping us add and organize specimens to our collection.
Keelie is finishing her Masters degree in Biology working with algae. Her interest in herbaria started with volunteering at the University of Victoria, databasing the collection and repairing herbarium specimens. Since 2023 Keelie has been helping us with all aspects of the work required to maintain a plant collection: mounting, databasing, scanning specimens, filing and keeping the collection up-to-date with naming convention. She plans to finish her Masters by the end of this summer and move to BC to further her studies.
Hannah has now graduated with her B.Sc in Chemistry/Biology and plans to leave us soon to attend St.Mary’s University for a MSc degree in Environmental Science. She has volunteering in the herbarium for the past 2 years, finding time between her classes to drop in and mount plant specimens. This is her favourite task. Her project for her Masters will be studying the microdiversity on Sable Island.
Thank you both for all of your help, curiosity and enthusiasm. We wish you all the best in the next phase of your lives, and would love to hear from you from time to time!
Connell Memorial Herbarium (UNB IH) 