Tempted by a Tasty Treat

There is this magical, ephemeral time just as winter winds down when the ground is no longer frozen and the sun still reaches the ground; before the trees leaf out and gobble up all the sunlight. This is the time when wildflowers can catch some sun and do their thing! 

  

On the first days of spring, out in the forest, Trillium start to break ground in my neck of the woods. All winter long, a rhizome persists underground (think: a skinny potato lined with layers of tissue paper). When the ground warms enough, an extension of that rhizome breaks through the ground, pushes through the leaf litter, and sprouts one of our earliest spring wildflowers. 

Trillium cuneatum

This species of Trillium is Purple Toadshade or Trillium cuneatum. (Some call it Sweet Betsy, but I prefer Purple Toadshade since it never fails to conjure a picture of a little toad taking shelter under the leaves.) The genus name Trillium refers to the three leaves. The species epithet “cuneatum” refers to the leaf shape, which is wedge-shaped or ‘cuneate’. 

Trillium cuneatum leaves

Another Trillium that us southerners are treated to is Southern Nodding Trillium (Trillium rugelii). Each year I revisit the places I have seen it grow in past years, waiting, hoping. If I’m lucky enough to spot the leaves, I will watch it over time in hopes of getting to catch the flower. More often than not, the deer get to the flower before it can bloom, but sometimes - just sometimes, the flower wins and so do I. Fingers crossed for an opportunity for a better photo this year. 

  

Now here is the really cool part! These plants have found a way to get their seeds couriered away, without using any fancy wind dispersal methods. These plants have found a way to temp ants into carrying the seeds away. They give ants a little gift – a tasty treat - in exchange for some help  dispersing seeds. Who among us isn’t tempted by a tasty treat? Each seed has a tasty morsels (an elaiosome) attached to it. The elaiosome and seed together are called a diaspore. The ants carry the diaspores away and bring them underground. There they eat the tasty bit and toss the seed aside (or take it back above ground). Ant fed. Seed (likely) planted. Win-win.  This crazy friendship is called myrmecochory, for all you word nerds. (I am having a heck of a time trying to pronounce this one.

In 2001, researchers discovered that Yellow Jackets (Vespula spp.) also carry off Trillium diaspores. It’s thought that the Yellow Jackets carry the diaspores even farther from the parent plant than ants. 

While I have yet to witness any ants or Yellow Jackets making off with diaspore, I love seeing all of the Trillium breaking ground. GO OUTSIDE! Go in the forest! Look for wildflowers. If you’re lucky (and find yourself around some rich soils), you might just get to see some TRILLIUM!  

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Cotterman, L., Waitt, D., Weakley, A. (2019). Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast. Timber Press.

Spira, T.P. (2011). Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. University of North Carolina Press. 

Zettler, J. A., Spira, T.P., & Allen, C.R. (2001). Yellow jackets (Vesplua spp.) disperse Trillium (spp.) seeds in eastern North America. The American Midland Naturalist, 145(2), 444-446.