Trout Lily is such a pleasant early bloomer (beginning in mid-April) in the forests of New England, delighting anyone spotting them. My mother called this “dog-tooth violet” which is a widespread common name, but oh so unrelated to violets! That common name is reflected in the scientific name of the single native European species, Erythronium dens-canis, so it’s likely the common name was in use long before the scientific specific epithet which means “tooth of a dog. “ That species has violet or lavender colored flowers, so there you have it, dog-tooth violet. Erythros is Greek for red or reddish. There are so many Greek origins of our plant names, which is why I always choose the term “scientific name” rather than Latin name.
Trout lily is in the lily family (Liliaceae) and, as is common in this family, the petals and sepals are combined to form six tepals, in this case, bright yellow, with either yellow or red pollen on the anthers. There is an iNaturalist project on Erythronium grandiflora that tracks the anther color variation of that western U.S. species. No one knows for sure why they vary. Our species occurs throughout New England and is more common in rich hardwood forests. Another subspecies occurs much further south.
Some members of the genus are rare in the U.S. including one, the Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) that is federally endangered, occurring only in Minnesota.
About me: Now retired, I worked for over ten years with the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program as State Botanist of Massachusetts. In addition to field botany, I’ve also been doing a lot of birding lately, coast to coast across the U.S., with my wife Ann.
