Trout Lilies

Trout Lily

Folklore suggests that they are called trout lilies because the leaves are thought to resemble the body of a speckled trout.  Personally, I see the sparkle of the sun on water when I look at the leaves.  A spring ephemeral they blanket our nearby woods in early spring.  A member of the Lily family, Trout lily (Erythronium americanum) is also sometimes called Dogtooth Violet. This is in reference to the shape of the corm. The corms, as well as the leaves, can be eaten. The leaves are mucilaginous and have a slight acrid taste.  In large quantities they are emetic. I will sometimes munch one or two leaves on a hike or gather a handful to add to salad.  I have never dug the corms as they are quite small and to me not worth the effort for the reward.

Trout lilies are slow growing and until they mature will only have one leaf.  They are sterile til about the seventh year when the plant will flower.  The plant will then have two leaves and the flower stalk.  While they spread mostly by runners (fewer than 10% of the flowers will set seed) they do have a symbiotic relationship with ants.  The seeds are attached to a nutrient rich structure called a elaiosome.  Ants carry the seed back to their nest.  They eat the elaiosome and then discard the seed.  The flowers of trout lily also provide an important early spring food source for pollinators.