Common Name of Plant: Trout Lily, Adder’s Tongue, or Dogtooth Violet
Scientific Name of Plant: Erythronium americanum
Average Height of Plant: 4-10 inches
Blooming Time: March to May
Ask the Botanist!
What are the leaves like?
Two wide mottled leaves in brown and green surround the base of a stalk that bears a solitary
flower. Each elliptical leaf is 2 – 8 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide.
What type of flowers bloom on this plant? What do the seedpods or seeds look like?
This plant has a solitary nodding yellow flower with three recurved (curved backwards) petals and three
petal-like sepals. The sepals are yellow on the inside and purplish brown on the back. The petals are
entirely yellow. The seeds are contained in a dry capsule.
What is unusual about the stem or trunk?
This plant grows from a deep rootstock (corm) which is three to five inches underground. It relies on the
spreading abilities of its underground root system (corms) which creates huge colonies.
How is this plant important to animals? Has it also been used by people?
Ants eat a nutritious appendage attached to each seed, which aids in germination. This plant has antibacterial properties. Leaves and corms (rootstock) were traditionally boiled and eaten by Native Americans.
What location does this plant prefer?
Trout lilies live in a deciduous woodland environment in areas that have filtered light in the spring. It prefers
rich soil with much humus.
Pictures
Whole Plant
Leaf
www.cas.vanderbilt.edu
www.easttennesseewildflowers.com
Buds
Flowers
Seeds
biology.clc.uc.edu
Stem or Tree Bark