Here’s a flower with a bird’s name.

Blooming now in western Pennsylvania, the red trillium (Trillium erectum) is sometimes called wake-robin, perhaps a reference to the robin’s red breast though their colors aren’t the same.

The flowers smell like rotting meat because they’re pollinated by flies. This gives the plant another name: Stinking Benjamin.  Have you ever noticed that fly-pollinated flowers are often this color?

Look for wake-robin in woodlands this weekend.   Dianne Machesney found these near Monroe Road on the Butler-Freeport Trail.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)