Trillium (trilium)

[NL. (Linnæus, 1753), so called with ref. to the numerical symmetry in to execute a shake or trill. I do think she will come to sing pretty well, and to trill in time, which pleases me well. Pepys , Diary, III. 84. O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill , And cheep and twitter twenty million loves. Tennyson, Prince , iv. (song). II. trans. 1. To sing in a quavering or tremulous manner; pipe. genus of liliaceous plants, of the tribe Medeoleæ . It is characterized by a solitary flower, usually with the three outer segments green and herbaceous, and the three inner segments larger, colored, and withering-persistent. There are about 15 species, 14 of which are natives of North America; 2 occur in Asia from the Him a lay as to Japan. They are singular and attractive plants with a short, thick, fleshy rootstock (see cut under rhizome ) producing a low unbranched erect stem terminated by a whorl of three broad deep-green leaves, each with three to five nerves, and also finely netted-veined. From their center rises the se ile or pedicel led flower, either reddish, purple, white, or greenish, with a large three-celled and three to six- angled ovary bearing three slender spreading stigmas, and Thomson, Summer, 1. 745. becoming in fruit an ovoid reddish berry. The contrast While in our shades, Through the soft silence of the listening night, The sober-suited songstre trills her lay. IMG:content-0880.jpg:[blocks in formation] 2. To pronounce with a quick vibration of the tongue; roll, as the sound of r.