North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Trillium cuneatum

Trillium cuneatum Raf.

little sweet betsy, purple toadshade, sweet betsy, wedge-petal trillium, large toadshade, bloody butcher

Image ID: 9684
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TRCU
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trillium cuneatum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-10-09

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TRILL
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Trillium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Trillium
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, of e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia (especially se. North America). The genus Trillium in our area is difficult and complex. Trillium is now usually separated from the Liliaceae (along with Eurasian genera such as Paris) into the Trilliaceae (Zomlefer 1996, Kato et al. 1995, Kawano & Kato 1995, and others) or less drastically as part of the Melanthiaceae (Chase et al. 2000; Tamura et al. 2004). The traditonal division of the genus into two well-marked subgenera, subgenus Trillium, the pedicellate trilliums, and subgenus Sessilium (formerly often called Phyllantherum; see Reveal & Gandhi [2014]), the sessile-flowered trilliums, has been partly supported by molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kato et al. 1995). These studies support the monophyly of subgenus Sessilium, but suggest that subgenus Trillium consists of several groups which are only rather distantly related (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kazempour Osaloo et al. 1999; Farmer & Schilling 2002).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Teratological forms are frequent in some species, as, for instance, leaves, sepals, and stamens in 2s or 4s, petals sepaloid, or sepals petaloid, and so forth. What are called “leaves” in Trillium are actually interpreted as bracts by some. Most species are slow-growing perennials; seedlings, juveniles, and depauperate or tired plants are one-leaved (monilliums), recognizable by the similar color, texture and venation of the single leaf to the three leaves of mature plants. In some species, such as T. undulatum and taxa of the T. pusillum complex, individual plants remain in the single-leaf stage for long periods of time, and populations may consist largely of juvenile plants.
GENUS REFERENCES: Patrick (1986)=Z; Patrick (2007)=V; Freeman (1975)=Y; Case & Case 1997=X; Patrick in Wofford (1989); Case in FNA (2002a); Mitchell (1990); Kato et al. (1995); Kawano & Kato (1995); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a); Zomlefer (1996); Farmer & Schilling (2002). Key adapted from Patrick (1986, 2007), unpublished keys of J.D. Freeman and S. Farmer, and other sources.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: TRILLI
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Trilliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1846
FAMILY COMMON: Trillium Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of 5 genera and about 80 species, perennial herbs, of temperate Northern Hemisphere. The Trilliaceae is clearly monophyletic and strongly characterized morphologically, scarcely resembling its sibling groups; its recognition as a family seems well-warranted.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Farmer & Schilling (2002).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, often colonial perennial found in rich soils of cove forests, moist slopes and bottomlands, usually over mafic or calcareous rocks.
STEMS: Stem stout, unbranched, smooth and mostly concealed by the large leaves.
LEAVES: Leaves 3, sessile and overlapping in a single whorl at top of stem; broadly oval to wedge-shaped; 3-7 in. long; with light and dark green mottling.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flower solitary at top center of leaf whorl; sessile; 1 1/2-2 3/4 in. long; consisting of 3 maroon to bronze (occasionally yellow), erect, narrow petals, 3 green and purple sepals, 6 linear maroon stamens, and a maroon ovary.
FRUITS: Fruit a maroon red, 3-celled, fleshy capsule resembling a berry.
COMMENTS: Flower scent variously described as spicy-fruity to wet-dog-like.
HEIGHT: 6-11 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Whorled
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jan-Apr

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Maroon

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
	x			x	x			x		x

FRUITING PERIOD: Late May-Jun.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: These plants have been carefully propagated from seed at NCBG. Slow- growing but long-lived, trilliums are a valued and choice wildflower that is rarely offered for sale. Little Sweet Betsy has deep reddish maroon flowers, with handsome mottled leaves. Ideal growing conditions are part shade and moist, well- drained, rich soil. This SE native perennial is found from North Carolina as far south as NW Florida and as far west as Mississippi.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes: The leaves of this trillium are beautifully mottled when they rise through the leaf litter in early March. One of the largest sessile trilliums, Little Sweet Betsy petals are maroon to wine red attracting much attention in the woods and garden. The common name is suggestive of the faint fragrance, spicy, some say like banana. Flowering from early March to mid-April, these trilliums can be found in rich, mostly upland woods in scattered populations through the Southeasten United States. Propagated easily from seed, this is a favorite trillium to plant in the garden for it to gracefully populate the home garden.

SOIL MOISTURE: Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
1247	HORT	2005-07-15	Bryan	View
1468	HORT	2005-07-07		View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
2141	1986-1947			View
3399	1991-0028			View
5209	1995-0328			View
6354	1995-1486			View
6463	1996-0083	2007-03-21		View
6831	1998-0037			View
7069	1999-0015	1999-05-03		View
9657	2023-0109	2023-07-19		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
3668	2141	75	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
3669	2141	78	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
3670	2141	11	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3671	2141	73	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3672	2141	74	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3673	2141	76	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3674	2141	139	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3675	2141	187	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3676	2141	188	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
3677	2141	189	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
5636	3399	72	NCBG staff	1990-05-30	View
7662	5209	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
9009	6354	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
9140	6463	60	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9141	6463	65	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9142	6463	67	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9143	6463	68	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9144	6463	69	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9145	6463	71	NCBG staff	1996-01-01	View
9679	6831	1	NCBG staff	1998-01-01	View
9680	6831	198	NCBG staff	1998-03-11	View
9681	6831	175	NCBG staff	1998-03-11	View
9971	7069	80	NCBG staff	1999-06-11	View
9972	7069	198	NCBG staff	1999-05-01	View
9973	7069	198	NCBG staff	1999-05-01	View
9974	7069	79	NCBG staff	1999-05-04	View
12476	6463	145	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12986	0	198	MacIntyre	0000-00-00	View
13688	0	66	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13841	0	70	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13862	0	77	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13907	9657	73	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13916	9657	189	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TRCU
USDA Common Name: Little Sweet Betsy
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, GA, IL, KY, MD, MS, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trillium cuneatum
COMMON NAME: Sweet Betsy, Purple Toadshade, Large Toadshade, Wedge-petal Trillium, Bloody Butcher
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, K, Pa, Tn, V, W, X, Y, Z; = T. cuneatum var. cuneatum - RAB; > T. cuneatum - F; >< T. viride Beck - F, misapplied with respect to NC material; < T. viride var. luteum (Muhlenberg) Gleason - G, misapplied (also see T. luteum); > T. hugeri Small - S; >< T. underwoodii - S, misapplied]
PHENOLOGY: (Jan-) Mid Mar-Apr; late May-Jun.
HABITAT: In rich soils of cove forests, moist slopes, and bottomlands, usually over mafic or calcareous rocks, locally abundant.
COMMENTS: Centered in the Southern Appalachians (but is more abundant in adjacent physiographic provinces), extending north to the Highland Rim of KY, west to the Interior Low Plateau of TN, south to the Coastal Plain of MS and AL, and east to the Piedmont of GA, SC, and NC. Petals maroon, yellow, green, or various intermediate shades.
RANGE MAP: Trillium cuneatum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Trilliaceae Lindley 1846 (Trillium Family)
SUMMARY: A family of 5 genera and about 80 species, perennial herbs, of temperate Northern Hemisphere. The Trilliaceae is clearly monophyletic and strongly characterized morphologically, scarcely resembling its sibling groups; its recognition as a family seems well-warranted.
REFERENCE: Farmer & Schilling (2002).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Trillium L. (Trillium)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, of e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia (especially se. North America). The genus Trillium in our area is difficult and complex. Trillium is now usually separated from the Liliaceae (along with Eurasian genera such as Paris) into the Trilliaceae (Zomlefer 1996, Kato et al. 1995, Kawano & Kato 1995, and others) or less drastically as part of the Melanthiaceae (Chase et al. 2000; Tamura et al. 2004). The traditonal division of the genus into two well-marked subgenera, subgenus Trillium, the pedicellate trilliums, and subgenus Sessilium (formerly often called Phyllantherum; see Reveal & Gandhi [2014]), the sessile-flowered trilliums, has been partly supported by molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kato et al. 1995). These studies support the monophyly of subgenus Sessilium, but suggest that subgenus Trillium consists of several groups which are only rather distantly related (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kazempour Osaloo et al. 1999; Farmer & Schilling 2002).
REFERENCE: Patrick (1986)=Z; Patrick (2007)=V; Freeman (1975)=Y; Case & Case 1997=X; Patrick in Wofford (1989); Case in FNA (2002a); Mitchell (1990); Kato et al. (1995); Kawano & Kato (1995); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a); Zomlefer (1996); Farmer & Schilling (2002). Key adapted from Patrick (1986, 2007), unpublished keys of J.D. Freeman and S. Farmer, and other sources.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Trillium cuneatum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Trillium cuneatum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Trillium cuneatum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Trillium cuneatum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Trillium cuneatum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Trillium cuneatum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9684 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 9685 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 39587 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)