Download TROUT LILY (Erythronium americanum) - River-Lab

River-Lab 5 Guide Manual
TROUT LILY (Erythronium americanum)
Also known as fawn lily and dogtooth violet.
The trout lily is a small plant (49 inches
high) with a large role in helping other plants in
a basin system. Trout lilies provide important
nutrients for other plants. They also help hold
down the natural mulch that gives floodplains
and woodland floors nutrients for plant growth.
Mulch anchored by trout lilies also enables more
runoff to be absorbed, which reduces erosion of
soil and plants on the floodplain and along
streambanks.
The trout lily’s major contribution of
nutrient enrichment is the result of its brief,
early spring life cycle. A trout lily produces two
flat, fleshy, spotted leaves (3–5 inches long) in
the early spring. These leaves can hold a lot of
water, dissolved minerals, and nitrates, thus
storing important nutrients that might otherwise
be washed away by early spring snowmelt and
rains. The trout lily has a fairly early, short life
cycle (about two weeks). The plants grow,
flower, and then die. As the trout lily dies it
releases it stored nutrientsat a time when
many other plants enter their active growing
season and are in special need of nitrogen.
This wildflower is a member of the lily family. Its brown-splotched leaves
somewhat resemble the speckled skin of a brook trout or the spotted coat of a fawn.
Also, trout lilies appear at about the time of the trout season, when the fish are jumping
for insects. Many wildflower books list it as a “Dogtooth Violet.” This name is
misleading, because it is not a member of the violet family.
Trout lilies often grow in large patches covering moist areas on floodplains or
woodland floors or along the shady edges of woods. These patches may jointly hold
mulch over a large total area, significantly increasing absorption of runoff from spring
rains. This effect helps protect river habitats and shorelines from erosion and protects
small, gilled aquatic animals from being suffocated by silt eroded into the water.
© 1999 Mill River Wetland Committee, Inc.
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River-Lab 5 Guide Manual
TROUT LILY, cont’d.
When seven to ten years old, a trout lily produces a single lily-shaped yellow
flower which nods, or bends gracefully downward from the top of its thin green stem.
The inside of the six petals are a bright yellow with tiny dark brown spots. On sunny
days the flower’s petals curl back, exposing the reproductive parts—three stigmas and six
stamens with golden-brown pollen. At night or on dark days, the petals hang down,
covering the reproductive parts. If fertilized, a trout lily produces a tiny bulb-like seed
which will bend the flower stem to the ground and start the growth of a new contributor
to the health of the basin system.
5GM – 25
© 1999 Mill River Wetland Committee, Inc.