Trillium a useful beautiful ornamental

This time of year some treasures pop up in my garden as so many of them are herbaceous perennials, meaning they die down over winter. One of these is Trillium erectum or beth root aka birthroot. It grows easily in my Canterbury garden and a lot of people have them as ornamentals in theirs. They like a damp shady spot and die down every winter, emerging in the spring. Their flowers are pretty.

In times gone by they were used as medicine by Native Americans and they grew over a vast area of woodlands in North America from Ontario and Nova Scotia through to Florida.

Note: when using this herb you need to ensure you have the correct species.

This is considered a women's herb. The roots and rhizomes are used medicinally. The traditional use is to assist childbirth and it was an official medicine in the US. Despite this, it has not been especially well studied.

Despite this herb used traditionally to staunch women's bleeding, with its astringent and antihaemorrhagic actions, it also has shown in the past to have posssible uses for someone has a blocked upper respiratory system.

Trillium erectus in my garden