Little Brown Jug is a perennial, evergreen wildflower that can be seen along many of the Arboretum's trails. Its unusual urn-shaped (or jug-shaped) flower is found at ground level, usually covered by leaves and other forest litter. The shiny, arrowhead-shaped leaves and glabrous flowers arise from an underground stem (rhizome). The sepals are fused into an urn-shaped, brown to reddish brown calyx tube (there are no petals) with pointed tips at the top. Within the urn are 12 stamens and a superior or partly inferior ovary having 6 styles.

Little Brown Jug belongs to the same plant family (Aristolochiacease) as Wild Ginger ( Asarum canadense), which has pubescent, heart-shaped leaves and a calyx tube that terminates in spreading or reflexed tips. The rhizome of both plants has an odor similar to ginger (as do the crushed leaves) and was used as a substitute for that spice by early settlers. Flowers of Little Brown Jug are pollinated by beetles and other insects in the leaf litter. Little Brown Jug is found throughout the Southeast. Native Americans used it for treating such ailments as stomach pains, whooping cough, heart problems, and asthma.

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