A Floral Wonderland

Local photographer Dan Malkovich likes to photograph woodland wildflowers and shared these two with the Pine Knot News this week. According to Malkovich, several varieties of trillium grow in Minnesota. The largest, the Trillium grandiflora, grows in profusion along the Munger Trail in mid-May each year. Next to the trail, opposite the Thomson reservoir, is a hillside covered in these lovely woodland wildflowers. Trillium is slow to mature - it can be several years between the time seed is germinated and the first flower blooms. The seeds are spread by ants, which take the fruit to their underground homes, eat the flesh and leave the seed behind. "The size of this colony makes me think that it has been growing here for many years," Malkovich wrote. "And those ants have been really busy."