bio.wikisort.org - Plant

Trillium cuneatum, the little sweet betsy,[3] also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher,[4] is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States but is especially common in a region that extends from southern Kentucky through central Tennessee to northern Alabama.[5] In its native habitat, this perennial plant flowers from early March to late April (depending on latitude). It is the largest of the eastern sessile-flowered trilliums.[6]

Trillium cuneatum
Cheekwood Botanical Garden Nashville, Tennessee
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Melanthiaceae
Genus:	Trillium
Species:	T. cuneatum
Binomial name
Trillium cuneatum Raf.
US distribution by state
Synonyms[2]
Trillium cuneatum Trillium cuneatum f. luteum J.D.Freeman Trillium hugeri Small Trillium sessile var. praecox Nutt.

Description

Trillium cuneatum has three broad, mottled leaves surrounding a sessile, banana-scented flower. The petals are erect and either maroon, bronze, green, or yellow in color.[7]

Taxonomy

Trillium cuneatum was first described by Rafinesque in 1840.[8] The specific epithet cuneatum, which means "narrow below and wide above, wedge-shaped",[9] refers to the tapered shape of the basal half of its flower petal.[10]

As of February 2022^[update], Kew's Plants of the World Online accepts no infraspecific names for Trillium cuneatum.[2] Some authorities recognize the name Trillium cuneatum f. luteum J.D.Freeman,[11] a form marked by the absence of purple pigments from all floral parts. It occurs in the midst of purple-flowered plants throughout the range of the species. Although both have yellow (or greenish-yellow) petals, Trillium cuneatum f. luteum J.D.Freeman is not regarded as the taxonomic or genetic equivalent of Trillium luteum (Muhl.) Harb.[12]

Trillium cuneatum has long been known for its morphological variability across (and even within) geographically distributed populations.[13] Phylogenetic analysis suggests that T. cuneatum is better understood as a species complex that includes T. cuneatum, T. maculatum, and T. luteum, plus two new species previously thought of as T. cuneatum, now proposed as Trillium freemanii sp. nov. and Trillium radiatum sp. nov.[14]

Distribution and habitat

Trillium cuneatum is endemic to the southeastern United States, ranging from Kentucky southward to southern Mississippi, and to the eastern coast of South Carolina. It is native to Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.[2] It has been widely introduced elsewhere, with naturalized populations in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.[15] There are hundreds of observations of T. cuneatum made by citizen scientists outside of its native range, in more than a dozen states, but especially in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York.[16]

Trillium cuneatum prefers to grow in rich soils in mostly upland woods, especially limestone soils but also at less calcareous sites. It is found at elevations of 50–400 m (160–1,310 ft).[4]

Ecology

In the southern part of its range, from Mississippi to Georgia, Trillium cuneatum begins to flower in early March, with peak flowering occurring around mid-March. In its northernmost populations, flowering occurs in April.[17][13] In the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, fruits were observed to ripen and drop off between July 1 and July 10.[18]

In general, Trillium species are myrmecochorous, that is, ants facilitate seed dispersal in most (if not all) species.[1] Since each seed of T. cuneatum has an attached elaiosome,[18] presumably its seeds are dispersed by ants as well.

Bibliography

• Case, Frederick W.; Case, Roberta B. (1997). Trilliums. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 170–176. ISBN 978-0-88192-374-2.
• Freeman, J. D. (1975). "Revision of Trillium subgenus Phyllantherum (Liliaceae)". Brittonia. 27 (1): 1–62. doi:10.2307/2805646. JSTOR 2805646. S2CID 20824379.
• Lampley, Jayne A. (2021). A systematic and biogeographic study of Trillium (Melanthiaceae) (PhD). University of Tennessee. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
• Shaver, Jesse M. (April 1960). "Trillium cuneatum Raf. in Tennessee" (PDF). J. Of Tenn. Academy of Science. 35 (2): 81–91. Retrieved 1 February 2022.

References

External links

• Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) occurrence data and maps for Trillium cuneatum
• Citizen science observations for Little Sweet Betsy at iNaturalist
• "Trillium cuneatum". Alabama Plant Atlas. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
• "Little Sweet Trillium - Trillium cuneatum Rafinesque". Vascular Plants of North Carolina. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
• "Toadshade (Trillium sessile L.) and Little Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum Raf.)". The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
• Adams, Alan B. (1975). A Study of Trillium cuneatum and T. luteum (MS). University of Tennessee. Retrieved 23 February 2022.

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