Trillium cernuum

Trillium cernuum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet cernuum means "drooping, curving forwards, facing downwards", a distinctive habit of its flower. It is commonly called nodding trillium or nodding wakerobin (not to be confused with Trillium flexipes) since the flower is invariably found nodding beneath the leaves. It is sometimes referred to as the northern nodding trillium to distinguish from Trillium rugelii, a similar nodding species native to the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is also called the whip-poor-will flower since presumably its bloom coincides with the spring arrival of the migrating bird with the same name. Trillium cernuum was thought to be one of three species of Trillium described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 (the other two being Trillium erectum and Trillium sessile). The specimen examined by Linnaeus was actually Trillium catesbaei, a nodding species native to the southern Appalachian Moun......read more on Wikipedia.