The solar ballet of the white trillium

Trillium flowers pointing in the same direction. Credit: Simon Joly - The flowers of the white trillium follow the sun, which increases their fecundity, according to a research team in biological sciences at UdeM. Have you ever noticed, during your walks in the forest, that the flowers of the white trilliums all point in the same direction? In fact, the flowers are pointing south, towards the sun, and this is far from being a coincidence. In a study recently published in the journal Botany , University of Montreal biology professor Simon Joly and his student Maryane Gradito describe heliotropism in the flowers of the white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum ) and show that the phenomenon gives it a reproductive advantage. Daily and seasonal heliotropism. Heliotropism is the propensity of certain plant organs to follow the path of the sun. We are obviously thinking here of the sunflower, whose flowers follow the sun during the day.