Trout Lily

Erythronium americanum

Family Liliaceae

Brief Description: Plants lay close to ground level; yellow flowers with reflexed petals born on fertile corms; many corms are infertile. Leaves are borne near the middle of the stem, appearing basally; usually mottled with brown; lanceolate to oblanceolate or elliptic.

Blooms from March to May.

Geographic Range: From Minnesota to Nova Scotia, south to Oklahoma, Georgia.

Habitat: Rich moist woods, alluvial bottoms.

Garden Use: A seasonal groundcover that is very spreading; mat forming; colonial. The foliage dies away by midsummer.

Historic Uses: The greens and corms can be boiled and eaten. Caution must be used, for they can be mildly emetic.