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Erythronium americanum Ker Gawl.

Trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassLiliopsidaMonocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
SubclassLiliidaeIncludes lilies, orchids, and many others
OrderLilialesIncludes lilies, tulips, trilliums, greenbriars, and others
FamilyLiliaceaeLilly family
GenusErythroniumGreek for “red,” for a red-flowered European species
Speciesamericanum“From America”

About plant names...

Trout lilies are lilies, not violets; the name "dogtooth violet" is derived from the shape of its bulb. Botanist Carol Gracie relates the story of the odd-seeming name adder's tongue, which may have come about due to the mottling on the leaves:

...John Burroughs, a nineteenth-century American naturalist and writer, felt that adder's tongue was an inappropriate name for such a lovely plant and suggested either fawn-lily, for its leaves are spotted like the back of a fawn, or "Still better is the name ‘troutlily,’ which has recently been proposed for this plant. It blooms along the trout streams, and its leaf is as mottled as a trout's back." (p. 26)

Identification: These plants often form dense colonies. Leaves are sharp-tipped ovals, some narrow, some wide, curiously mottled with brownish or purplish irregular splotches. They are 3-6″ (7.6-15 cm) long. Flowers are yellow inside and bronze, yellowish-brown or yellow outside, nodding, with six petals (technically, tepals). As the flowers mature, their petals bend way back, fully exposing six long brown stamens tipped with six anthers about ½″ (1.3 cm) long. The anthers are yellowish brown at first, darkening to deep red-purple.

References:

Gracie, Carol, Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History, Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 188

Online References:

Southeastern Flora, the Southeastern U.S. Plant Identification Resource

Missouriplants.com

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

The Missouri Botanical Garden

The Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Wildflowers of the United States

CalPhotos

EFloras

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/8/2021 · Carol Martin’s, Highland Green, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver, Hollis, Mass­a­chu­setts

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/9/2016 · Wonder Brook Park, Kennebunk Lan, Kennebunk, Maine

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/29/2012 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

7/29/2023 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/15/1979 · Virginia · By Tim Chandler

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/9/2016 · Wonder Brook Park, Kennebunk Lan, Kennebunk, Maine

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/9/2016 · Wonder Brook Park, Kennebunk Lan, Kennebunk, Maine

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

7/29/2023 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/29/2012 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

 

Erythronium americanum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 14 Aug 2021.

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Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/29/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 11 × 7″ (26 × 17 cm)

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/3/2014 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 16 cm)

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/8/2021 · Carol Martin’s, Highland Green, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver, Hollis, Mass­a­chu­setts

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/8/2021 · Carol Martin’s, Highland Green, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm)

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

The trout lily is surrounded by young Canada mayflowers. · 4/23/2010 · Stan and Connie’s, Falmouth, Maine · By Constance B. Kent

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver, Hollis, Mass­a­chu­setts

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

7/29/2023 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

7/29/2023 · Gordon and Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · By J Gordon Williamson

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

4/15/1979 · Virginia · By Tim Chandler

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/5/2023 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine

Erythronium americanum (trout lily, yellow trout-lily, dogtooth violet)

5/9/2016 · Wonder Brook Park, Kennebunk Lan, Kennebunk, Maine

Range: Zones 3-8:

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