Coast Trillium vs Comet Darner

Trillium ovatum compared with Anax longipes

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coast Trillium	Comet Darner
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Liliales (Liliales)	Odonata (Odonata)
Family	Melanthiaceae	Aeshnidae
Genus	Trillium	Anax
Species	Trillium ovatum	Anax longipes

Conservation Status

Coast Trillium

LC — Least Concern

Comet Darner

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coast Trillium	Comet Darner
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Coast Trillium

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Found in United States.

Comet Darner

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found in United States.

Coast Trillium

Coast trillium (Trillium ovatum) is a spring-flowering perennial herb in the family Melanthiaceae, native to moist, shaded forests of western North America from British Columbia and Alberta south through the Pacific states to central California and east to Montana and Idaho. It grows in mixed conifer and deciduous forest understories, redwood forest, riparian woodland, and coastal range foothills, typically in deep, humus-rich, well-drained soils. Like all trilliums, it produces a whorl of three broad leaves, a single three-petalled flower that opens white and turns pink to deep rose with age, and takes many years to reach flowering maturity from seed. Seeds are dispersed by ants (myrmecochory) attracted to the oil-rich elaiosome attached to each seed. Coast trillium is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, though it is a legally protected plant in some US states due to its slow reproductive rate making populations sensitive to disturbance. Illegal collection from the wild for horticulture remains a concern. It is one of the most beloved wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest and is widely cultivated in woodland gardens.

Comet Darner

<em>Anax longipes</em>, the comet darner, is a large dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae, assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is endemic to the United States, where it inhabits lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers with clear water and abundant emergent vegetation. The comet darner is one of the largest North American dragonflies and is distinguished by its brilliant coloration, including a green thorax and a red-spotted abdomen in mature males. The species name longipes refers to its notably long legs. Adults are powerful aerial predators, feeding on a variety of flying insects captured in flight. Larvae are aquatic and predatory, developing in the benthic zone of freshwater habitats where they feed on invertebrates and small vertebrates. The comet darner undertakes seasonal dispersal movements and is most commonly observed near its breeding water bodies during the warmer months.