General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: |
Herb/Forb
|
Life cycle: |
Perennial
|
Sun Requirements: |
Partial or Dappled Shade
Partial Shade to Full Shade
|
Water Preferences: |
Mesic
|
Minimum cold hardiness: |
Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
|
Maximum recommended zone: |
Zone 9b
|
Plant Height: |
4-10 inches |
Plant Spread: |
3 - 6 inches |
Leaves: |
Unusual foliage color
Spring ephemeral
Other: Leaves can be cooked as a leaf vegetable.
|
Flowers: |
Showy
|
Flower Color: |
Yellow
|
Bloom Size: |
1"-2"
|
Flower Time: |
Spring
|
Underground structures: |
Bulb
|
Uses: |
Vegetable
Will Naturalize
|
Propagation: Seeds: |
Stratify seeds: Seeds need alternating periods of warm and cold stratification to germinate
Seeds are hydrophilic
|
Propagation: Other methods: |
Stolons and runners
Offsets
|
- Trout Lily
- Yellow Trout-Lily
- Adder's-Tongue
- American Trout-Lily
- Dogtooth Violet
- Yellow Adder's Tongue
- Eastern Trout-Lily
Posted by
mellielong (Lutz, Florida - Zone 9b) on Apr 23, 2015 12:17 PM concerning plant:
The book "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs. William Starr Dana tells us that this plant can be found in April blooming in "one of those hollows in the wood which is watered by such a clear gurgling brook as must appeal to every country-loving heart." Each lily nods "guarded by a pair of mottled, erect, sentinel-like leaves."
The book gives two common names for this plant: Yellow Adder's Tongue and Dog's Tooth Violet. However, the author finds these highly unsatisfactory. Why call a lily a violet? Why indeed. She also asks if the markings of the leaves resemble the skin of an adder, why name it after its tongue? Mr. Burroughs, she says, has proposed two better names. The first, "Fawn Lily" because a fawn is also mottled and because the leaves stand up in a similar fashion to the alert, startled look of a fawn's ears. The second, "Trout Lily" because of its speckled foliage and flowering season has "a spring-like flavor not without charm." Let's be glad that nearly a century later the author got her wish! She also mentions the early settlers of Pennsylvania called the flower "Yellow Snowdrop".
Plant Events from our members
aspenhill |
On April 21, 2017 |
Obtained plant NGA Susan (Muddy1) - qty lot |
» Post your own event for this plant
« Add a new plant to the database
» Search the Erythroniums Database: by characteristics or by cultivar name
« See the general plant entry for Erythroniums (Erythronium)
« The Erythroniums Database Front Page
« The Plants Database Front Page