Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Liliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trillium cuneatum
FAMILY
Trilliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Trillium.
You may enjoy Trillium in the South by Will Stuart.
Read more: Trillium cuneatum (Little Sweet Betsy), Oconee Station State Historic Site, Oconee County, South Carolina by Jim Fowler.
Learn more about Little Sweet Betsy from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Trillium is now usually separated from the Liliaceae into the Trilliaceae or less drastically as part of the Melanthiaceae. What are called “leaves” in Trillium are actually interpreted as bracts by some. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trillium cuneatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Trilliums of Georgia. Tipularia (Patrick, 2007)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-03-001a:
Trillium cuneatum var. cuneatum FAMILY Liliaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium hugeri
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium underwoodii
COMMON NAME:
Little Sweet Betsy, Purple Toadshade
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Betsy George bmg_img_7120
February Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm170226_297
February Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
Harry Davis hld1544_a
February-March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
The flower has no stalk; it is thus referred to as a sessile flower, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
JK Marlow jkm0403b_08
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm0403c_25
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm090321_043
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
In general, seeds take 1-2 yrs to produce a mature cotyledon (seed leaf), per Trilliums of Georgia (Patrick, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm110313_893
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Ovary purplish, about the same length as stamens and 1/3 that of petals, per Trilliums of Georgia (Patrick, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm110313_893b
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Two pollen sacs (the anther) line a band of sterile tissue (the connective), per Trilliums of Georgia (Patrick, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm110313_970
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_302
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Ants are the primary seed carriers, often discarding seeds near their nests.
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_312
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Trillium with four leaves are not terribly uncommon.
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_cuneatum_1655
March Polk County NC
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk1544_b
March?
Petals purple, brown, green or rarely yellow, >2x long as wide, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm0404m_11
April Henderson County NC
Roadside
Leaves mottled with two colors, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm150407_125
April Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm200409_3560
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200414_3803
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200415_3884
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Ovary and stamens should not be this color, but some plants don't read the keys.
)
JK Marlow jkm200422_4071
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Wonder what's causing the leaf speckles?
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_cuneatum_02858
April Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_t_cuneat_cloudland4_2
April Dade County GA
Cloudland Canyon State Park
Sepals lanceolate, 3-5cm long (2/3-3/4 petal length), erect to divergent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_trillium_cuneatum
April
)
JK Marlow jkm200703_6347
July Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm220701_8801
July Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Marian StClair msc_3059
August? Greenville County SC
A lipid-rich food body (elaiosome) is attached to the outer seed coat, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trillium cuneatum
FAMILY
Trilliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trillium cuneatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Trilliums of Georgia. Tipularia (Patrick, 2007)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trillium cuneatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-03-001a:
Trillium cuneatum var. cuneatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium hugeri
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN (MISAPPLIED)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trillium underwoodii
1544
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: In rich soils of cove forests, moist slopes, and bottomlands, usually over mafic or calcareous rocks, locally abundant, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common to uncommon, locally abundant (rare in SC Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
A single terminal whorl of 3 leaves
Leaves sessile
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
Maroon, yellow, green, or various intermediate shades
Flowers are sessile.
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
3 petals
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Maroon, green, or with purple stripes
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p182
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p199
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p134
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p427
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p349
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p135
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p166
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p017
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p422
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p372
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p426
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p455
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p017
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