Trillium cuneatum Raf.

Little Sweet Betsy; Whippoor Will Flower; Large Toadshade

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Little Sweet Betsy is a native herbaceous perennial in the Trillium family (Trilliaceae). It occurs in rich hardwood forests, along streams and rivers, in ravines, and on slopes. It occurs in the northern 2/3’s of Alabama. Little Sweet Betsy is a perennial from a short, thick rhizome. Each rhizome generally produces a single scape. The scape is 6 inches to 1foot in height and has three sessile leaves in a whorl. The leaves are ovate to elliptic in outline and vary in color from pale green to green mottled with a lighter silvery green and a darker olive green. A single sessile flower is produced above the leaves. The flowers are fragrant and have a pleasant odor similar to Sweetshrub (Calycanthus). The flower has 3 spreading sepals that are green to purple in color. The 3 petals are erect, elliptic to ovate in outline, and conceal the stamens and ovary. The petals vary in color from marron, bronze, green, or yellow. Petals are often 2-colored with the upper portion being yellowish and the basal portion being maroon. The anthers split along their sides to release the pollen. The fruit is a fleshy capsule. Little Sweet Betsy is the most common and widest ranging Trillium in Alabama. It can be quite variable in size, leaf color, and flower color. It often grows with one or more additional species of Trillium. It is available from nurseries that sell native plants. Little Sweet Betsy prefers an organic rich soil that drains well but doesn’t become too dry. It prefers a wooded location under hardwoods that provide summer shade.--A. Diamond

The most common and widest ranging Trillium in Alabama.

Native

Freeman, J.D. 1975. Revision of Trillium Subgenus Phyllantherum (Liliaceae). Brittonia 27: 1-62.