Wikimedia Commons
Liliaceae
Trout Lily
Erythronium americanum
Patience, hope, modesty.
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Genus
- Erythronium
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- Bulbous perennial
- Height
- 10–25 cm
- Sunlight
- Part shade to full shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, woodland
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- Extremely long-lived; spring ephemeral
Did you know
- Trout lilies are named for their mottled green-and-brown leaves that look exactly like the speckled flank of a brook trout.
- A single colony can be over 300 years old — they spread by underground runners and the same patch can outlive every tree around it.
- Most plants in a colony never flower; they take 7 or more years to produce their first bloom and only mature, two-leaved plants are reproductive.
- Also called 'dogtooth violet' for the shape of the bulbs, though they aren't violets at all — they're true lilies.
- The pollen is bright yellow-orange and is collected almost exclusively by specialist mining bees that emerge synchronized with the flowers.
Color meanings
Yellow
Quiet hope