Trillium Cuneatum

''Trillium cuneatum'', the little sweet betsy, also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the ''Trillium cuneatum'' complex, a subgroup of the sessile-flowered trilliums. 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. 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.

Description

''Trillium cuneatum'' is a member of the ''Trillium cuneatum'' complex, along with its closest relatives, ''Trillium luteum'' and ''Trillium maculatum''. ''Trillium cuneatum'' is paraphyletic and morphologically variable. Some populations currently considered to be ''T. cuneatum'' are more closely related to ''T. maculatum'' than to other ''T. cuneatum'' populations. It may be split in the future into several monophyletic species with greater morphological uniformity. All members of the complex are sessile-flowered trilliums.

''Trillium cuneatum'' is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant that persists by means of an underground rhizome. Like all trilliums, it has a whorl of three bracts (leaves) and a single trimerous flower with three sepals, three petals, two whorls of three stamens each, and three carpels (fused into a single ovary with three stigmas). It has a sessile flower (no flower stalk), erect petals, and mottled leaves. The broad leaves surround a banana-scented flower with maroon, bronze, green, or yellow petals. It is known for its morphological variability between (and even within) geographically distributed populations.

Taxonomy

''Trillium cuneatum'' was first described by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1840. The specific epithet ''cuneatum'', which means "narrow below and wide above, wedge-shaped", refers to the tapered shape of the basal half of its flower petal. , the name ''Trillium cuneatum'' is widely recognized. The species is a member of the sessile-flowered trilliums ( ''Trillium'' subgen. ''Sessilia''), a group of species typified by ''Trillium sessile''.

Based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic evidence, ''Trillium cuneatum'' sensu lato is paraphyletic. , available evidence supports a species complex comprising eight distinct taxa, including ''Trillium luteum'' and ''Trillium maculatum'', plus two new species (''Trillium freemanii'' and ''Trillium radiatum'').

, Kew's Plants of the World Online accepts no infraspecific names for ''Trillium cuneatum''. Some authorities recognize the name ''Trillium cuneatum'' f. ''luteum'' , 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'' is not regarded as the taxonomic or genetic equivalent of ''Trillium luteum''

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. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, with naturalized populations in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 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.

''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 .

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. In the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, fruits were observed to ripen and drop off between July 1 and July 10.

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

References

Bibliography

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External links

Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) occurrence data and maps for ''Trillium cuneatum''
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3062186

cuneatum
Flora of the Southeastern United States
Flora of the Appalachian Mountains
Flora of Illinois
Flora of Pennsylvania
Endemic flora of the United States
Plants described in 1840
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque