wake-robin

[ weyk-rob-in ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the cuckoopint.
any of various plants belonging to the genus Trillium, native to eastern North America, of the lily family, as T. erectum, having rank-smelling purple, yellow, or white flowers.

wake-robin

any of various North American herbaceous plants of the genus Trillium, such as T. grandiflorum, having a whorl of three leaves and three-petalled solitary flowers: family Trilliaceae
any of various aroid plants, esp the cuckoopint

First recorded in 1520–30

John Burroughs's "Wake Robin" deals not with robins alone, but with birds and bird habits in general.

Here he came upon evidences of a meal which the rival had made upon wake-robin roots.

Mr. John Burroughs says his sign is the wake-robin, or trillium.

It was published in 1867, preceding "Wake-Robin" by four years.

Mr. Burroughs, in Wake-Robin, mentions having found two nests, and gives us to understand that he saw only the female birds.

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