So, did ya get a good deal $$$ ? The only time I bought plants (cactus cuttings) on ebay I ended up being a victim of shipping cost rape which wasn't apparent until the deed was done and it was too late. I've never ordered from e-bay since.

In late November I ordered $85 worth of mostly little bluestem along with 3 asters and a few guara's that SRG is kindly holding until March for spring shipping which I bought in a weak moment when they had the last gasp 2015 Fall Sale for late planting in zone 8. Talk about falling off the wagon. BS grows everywhere here and I always think how ridiculous it is when I buy them but the cultivars look better in urban landscapes because they are uniform, have the best form and color.

About collecting in the wild, I view each situation differently and act accordingly. If there are miles and miles of very common plants, such as asters, dogweed, smakeweed, cowpen daisy, Maximillian sunflowers, grasses etc that you see growing in abundance all across the state or growing for acres in rural areas with no possibility of becoming endangered or threatened I have no qualms about collecting either seeds or plants. Some people would disagree. My conscience is fine with it but more to the point, my common sense is at ease. I learned some people throw a fit over this so I no longer post about it. If an area is slotted for development, I have no qualms on a 'rescue' concerning anything growing there, including cactus.

I frown on people collecting with the intent to sell or those collecting rare, threatened, almost threatened or protected species such as cactus. There is a local man who sells rustled cactus here, he doesn't even take the trouble to dig them well, just whacks off most of the roots. Some plants won't transplant or survive a move which is another factor to consider. Its varies from one situation to the next.

Well, as much as you can know on Ebay (which is comments), it looked like quality goods have been received by other people. I don't KNOW that they were wild harvested, but at the prices I tend to believe they have to be. And the guilt is because trilliums have to be like eight years old to bloom (and these are reported blooming size), the others probably only four or five years old, but still not fast cash crops like a tray of impatiens.

I can only say, it was an impulse buy driven by shopping $$ wisdom (of finding the best buy).

Unfortunately, trilliums and most other bulbous native plants ARE endangered in the wild so harvesting of mature plants is either illegal or highly discouraged unless located in an area planned to undergo development. The good news is that the seeds of most of these plants are readily available and many reputable growers will produce them this way. A number of years ago, there was a lot of flak and heated discussion here and with other horticultural sites and blogs regarding the unethical collection and sales of these so-called 'spring ephemerals' so the caution is to try and ascertain that they are only grown by seed and not wild collected and to only patronize those sellers to adhere to ethical collection practices.

Without knowing for sure, maybe you can assuage your guilt by assuming this is how your ebay provider acquired them............:-)

Yes, I think for my peace of mind, I won't ask.

I wouldn't touch a plant like that in the wild. Like I said plants growing in the wild is not a subject where strict rules fit all situations but thats just my opinion. However, illegal is illegal especially when it involves poaching. Wild plants which are common and easily multiply, are not even remotely endangered, are growing thickly or coming up in places like waste areas on the sides of the road in the industrial area of the city or similar situations is quite another matter. Fortunately for me, those are usually the ones I'm interested in and I'm not a 'plant collector'.

As far as the seller is concerned, its a risk anyone takes when buying but as far as guilt is concerned, providing a good home could be considered doing a good deed, all things considered, except it encourages the seller.

Some kinds of trillium are not endangered from what I could tell in a quick google check. I looked it up to see whats native here, looks like they grow in NE Oklahoma as you get closer to the Ozarks. The purple trilliums (ozrkanum) are vulnerable but its mainly from habitat destruction & herbicide use. What kind did you get? I'm not really familiar with them.

I read the seeds of trillium are spread by ants who start new colonies of plants. You could consider yourself and the seller doing the part of the ants by starting new colonies further than the local ants would reach. I often think there are 2 ways to view native plant locations. You can look at it from the point of view of subtracting a plant(s) from an area or you can look at it from the point of view of starting new colonies elsewhere in places where none were growing previously or where they'd disappeared. I often take the 2nd point of view and think in terms of repopulating. The original prairie site is none the worse for loosing a plant or some seeds since there's such a large population of plants to reseed and multiply.

Staying loyal to that theory, I just took my grocery bags stuffed with seeds and dispersed them elsewhere by a stream thats in need of color among some rocks. So, there ya go. Yet more new colonies as I spread the seeds in new places here in the urban desert. Ought to be a lot of standing cypress, liatris & gaillardia coming up next year along with some not locally native single flowered zinnias in orange and yellow. The nonnative zinnias are harmless in my opinion, they bloom nonstop all summer in the heat & drought plus the butterflies love them.

I originally was going for T grandiflorum and pusillum, both found in Arkansas...however, I decided that there would be surprise factor is trying a mixed bag of trilliums, so I don't really know. Good chance I'll get at least one of those species, but as for the others, only flowering will tell me.

Yes, after seed maturation, I spread gaillardia, rudbeckia triloba, and helenium seeds across a bare spot in the back yard (where I won't have to mow)...in the hopes that some few will catch and enrich that area (where I already have helianthus, allium, vernonia, and baptisia, and coreopsis).

If they are selling a mixed bag of trillium, then they were most likely seed grown since the seller would not have a whole bunch of different trilliums growing in his neighborhood to dig up. But he could buy a lot of seed from different people and grow them.

Well plants received (and all but trilliums planted)...the erythroniums are small (but having never dug up a E americana, I don't know what mature size is for the species). The shooting stars looked a bit rough, but most should make the transition I think...I don't think storage out of soil (even preventing drying) is particularly kind on them.

The trillium roots look the best..and I hope to get them into the soil tomorrow, when hopefully the soil is less frosty.

Good news , healthy plants.