Several species contain sapogenins. They have been used traditionally as uterine stimulants, the inspiration for the Common name birthwort. In a 1918 publication, Joseph E. Meyer called it "beth root", probably a corruption of "birthroot". He claimed that an astringent tonic derived from the root was useful in controlling bleeding and diarrhea.
In 2009, a Private Members Bill was proposed in the Ontario legislature that would have made it illegal to in any way injure the Common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in the province (with some exceptions), however the bill was never passed. The rare Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) is also protected by law in Ontario, because of its very small Canadian population.
