Trees Planet: Erythronium americanum - Trout Lily

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Erythronium americanum - Trout Lily - Dogtooth Violet

General Information

Common Name	Trout Lily, Dogtooth Violet
Scientific Name	Erythronium americanum
Sun Tolerance	Shade
Height	7-30cm (3-9 inch)
Spread	7-20cm (3-6 inch)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Spring
Color	Green
Flower Color	Yellow
Type	Creeper
Native	North-America

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass	Liliidae
Order	Liliales
Family	Liliaceae – Lily family
Genus	Erythronium L. – fawnlily
Species	E. americanum

Erythronium americanum - Trout Lily - Dogtooth Violet

Erythronium americanum common name is Trout Lily also called Yellow dogtooth violet. It is a flowering plant that native to North-America. It grows to 7-30cm (3-9 inch) in height. Generally it well grows in shady places. The plants are only in growth from late winter to late spring so the ground cover effect is ephemeral. The appearance of Trout Lily’s gray-green leaves mottled with brown or gray, which allegedly resemble the coloring of brook trout. It blooms in spring and the flower color is yellow. Each plant sends up a single flower stem with a pair of leaves. Trout lilies grow in colonies that can be up to 300 years old. Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a shady position in a cold frame. Water lightly in summer, it should germinate in autumn or winter. Stored seed requires a period of cold stratification. Sow as early in spring as possible in a cold frame. Sow the seed thinly so that it will not be necessary to prick them out for their first year of growth. Give an occasional liquid feed to the seedlings to make sure that they do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants are dormant, pot up the small bulbs putting 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot.