Trillium erectum produces striking wine-red blooms in spring. Red trillium, also called red wakerobin, stinking Benjamin, wet dog trillium, wet dog wakerobin, has foul-smelling blooms that attract carrion flies to pollinate. Early herbalists used this stinky plant to treat gangrene according to the ancient Doctrine of Signatures, when plants were used to cure the ailments they resembled. The spring ephemeral disappears back underground when spring turns to summer and temperatures heat up.