Trillium cuneatum

Product Info

Sweet Betsy Trillium (Trillium cuneatum)
Trillium Family

This is one of the easiest to grow and largest of the sessile Trillium.  Sessile Trilliums have flowers that are flush to the leaves (Trilliums don’t actually have true leaves–leaves are technically large bracts). Naturally found in rich woodlands, this trillium will thrive in shade to part shade in organically rich soil. When happy, large colonies will form both through underground rhizomes and seed dispersal. Seeds are ant dispersed, like many of our earliest blooming plants, and take ~7 years to flower. Maroon flowers are large and are followed by even larger purplish pods filled with dozens of fleshy seeds. Leaves have beautiful silver, dark & light green mottling. The leaf pattern is highly variable and provides considerable interest to a colony of Sweet Betsy. These are grown in “nurse beds” in our woods. Plants are allowed to self sow and are grown in situ. Larger specimens are harvested in the fall. Limited availability each spring.

Blooms: Maroon, 2-3 weeks, Feb-March
Leaves: 3 large oval leaves with green and silver mottling, dies back by late mid-late summer
Height: 6-12”
Space: 12”
Soil: Average moisture, organic soil with lots of leaf litter
Exposure: Shade-Part Shade
Fauna: Flies, beetles, ants
Seeds: Large fleshy purple capsule full of seeds that are ant distributed
Zone: 5-8
Deer Resistance: High
Native Status: NC native, uncommon in the Piedmont and Mountains
Provenance: North Carolina, seed and asexually produced