''Erythronium americanum'', the trout lily, yellow trout lily, fawn lily, yellow adder's-tongue, or yellow dogtooth violet, is a species of

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

, colony forming, spring ephemeral flower native to North America and dwelling in woodland habitats. Within its range it is a very common and widespread species, especially in eastern North America. The common name "trout lily" refers to the appearance of its gray-green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

mottled with brown or gray, which allegedly resemble the coloring of

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

. The range is from

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

south to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, west to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and north to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Description

Flowers

A yellow trout lily produces an erect flower stalk with a nodding,

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

flower with 6 recurved, yellow,

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s. The 20 to 33 mm long tepals are composed of 3

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s and 3 petal-like

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s. ''E. americanum'' does not flower for the first 4 to 7 years of its life. In any given colony, only 0.5% will have flowers. Trout lilies bloom in early spring before the trees growing above them develop leaves. Blooming at this time allows them unobstructed access to sunlight and time to grow when soil nutrient levels are high. The flowers close at night.

Leaves

Non-flowering plants grow a single leaf whereas flowering plants grow 2 basal leaves. The 8 to 23 centimeters long yellow trout lily leaves grow in the spring and range from elliptic to lanceolate leaves, the leaves may be mottled with gray to purple and have entire

leaf margin A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...

s. The leaves should not be consumed by women who are trying to conceive; some Native American groups, including the Cherokee, traditionally used ''Erythronium americanum'' (trout lily) as a contraceptive or abortifacient. However, no modern pharmacological studies have confirmed the contraceptive or abortifacient effects.

Fruit and sexual reproduction

''Erythronium americanum'' does not reproduce very effectively via sexual reproduction with only 10% of pollinated flowers developing seeds. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a 12 to 15 mm long capsule that is held off the ground by the flower stalk. ''E. americanum'' is a myrmecochorous plant, meaning that ants help disperse the seeds and reduce seed predation. To make the seeds more appealing to ants they have an

elaiosome Elaiosomes ( ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes that attract ...

which is a structure that attracts ants.

Corm and asexual reproduction

A trout lily grows from a 15 to 28 mm oval underground

corm Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen, underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ''c ...

. The corm is often located in the upper 11 cm of soil although it may be as deep as 30 cm. The corms of ''E. americanum'' are buried very deeply compared to other lily family plants. The corms are mostly composed of storage tissue containing large amounts of energy rich starch. The corm is covered by a papery husk which is the remains of the previous year's stalk. Trout lilies grow in colonies, some of which have been dated to be up to 300 years old. The individuals within a colony will often reproduce asexually via a "dropper" or from small bulbs budding off of the main corm. A dropper is a tubular fleshy stem that grows out from a parent corm, up toward the surface and then penetrates deep into the soil where another corm is formed from the tip of the dropper. The stem connecting the daughter and parent corm then dies.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies, ''Erythronium americanum'' subsp. ''americanum'' and ''Erythronium americanum'' subsp. ''harperi''. The ''americanum'' subspecies is a distributed more northerly and the ''harperi'' subspecies only occurs in the south, from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

. The subspecies differ in the shape of the capsule and stigma, with ''E. americanum'' subsp. ''americanum'' having a capsule with a rounded, truncate, or short-apiculate tip and erect stigma lobes without groves. ''E. americanum'' subsp. ''harperi'' has a distinctly apiculate capsule apex and stigma lobes which are both grooved and recurved. Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum).jpg Trout lily Erythronium americanum im.JPG Trout lily dropper.jpg, A dropper coming from a bulb Erythronium americanum; Yellow Trout Lily.jpg

References

External links

Canada Wildlife Federation: Wild about Flowers "Erythronium americanum -- Trout lily"
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q159580

americanum This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants ...

Ephemeral plants Flora of Eastern North America Plants described in 1808 Garden plants of North America