Western Trillium Ink

At first, this might appear to be a lighter version of “Blackberry”, but in fact, they are made with different dyes. This is a magenta pink of modest vibrance and shading. On some Japanese papers such as Tomoe River, Iroful and Cosmo, you may see stronger, blueish shading.

Trilliums are some of the most distinctive and elegant wildflowers that are commonly found across North America. In other parts of the country, trilliums may be burgundy or maroon, but all of the trilliums found in Western Washington bloom white. As they age, though, their petals often pick up a blush of pink, and on rare occasions (especially in the mountains), they turn a uniform deep pink.

Although no hazardous materials are used in the production of these inks, they should not be consumed. Keep inks out of the reach of children.

In the woods across the street from my childhood home, where I spent a good deal of time climbing trees and looking for frogs, trilliums were always one of the first flowers to appear in the spring, but their petals always remained white. I found these pink blooms just a couple of weeks ago on the Snow Lake trail at Mount Rainier National Park.

The example below, however, is one of the rare finds, but it’s also a Trillium ovatum var. ovatum from the woods near Renton, WA.