SPRINGHOUSE FARM JOURNAL
By Heather Lovett
Trout lily season might be easy to miss if it didn’t happen to coincide with the opening of fishing season in early April. I can always count on the newspaper printing an article or two about dedicated anglers rising before dawn to get first crack at newly-stocked trout streams, and that’s my cue to start looking for the pretty wildflowers named after the fish.
The shiny green-and-brown mottled leaves of trout lily (Erythronium americanum) appear first, very early in the spring, followed by nodding yellow flowers with six gracefully recurved petals (three are actually petal-like sepals) on four- to ten-inch stems. The plant’s favorite habitat is damp, deciduous woods, especially near streams, but I’ve also seen them by the roadside not far from my house, where they’ve formed a sizable colony interwoven with wood anemones (Anemone quinquefolia) and spring beauties (Claytonia virginica).
Some people still refer to trout lily as dog’s-tooth violet or adder’s-tongue, two of its older, European names. Of approximately 30 known Erythronium species, all but one (E. dens-canis) are native to North America, yet the "violet" in dog’s-tooth violet and the genus name Erythronium both refer to the reddish-purple flower color of the European species. (Dog’s-tooth is a reference to the plant’s fang-like roots, and the origin of adder’s-tongue is unclear.)
Most American trout lilies have either yellow or white flowers, and they look nothing like violets and very much like lilies, to which they are related. The naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921) championed the names trout lily and fawn lily, since the flowers bloom along trout streams in early spring, and the mottled coloring of the leaves resembles the speckles on brook trout, or the spots on young deer.
Trout lilies belong to a group of early-blooming wildflowers known collectively as "spring ephemerals." The life cycle of these woodland plants is exquisitely timed to correspond with the short interval of warm, spring weather before emerging leaves in the forest canopy block out the sun. Trout lilies flower, produce seeds, and become dormant in a few short weeks, living the rest of the year off nutrients stored in their underground corms.
So why make such a fuss over a flower that appears only fleetingly in the spring? The simple answer is that like the first whiff of fresh-cut grass on a sunny afternoon, or the familiar sound of spring peepers trilling in the evening, trout lilies are a reliable early sign of warmth returning to the earth. But beyond their messenger role, the plants contribute to life in the forest in more important, though less obvious ways.
According to Peter Bernhardt, author of "Wily Violets and Underground Orchids," trout lilies perform a rescue mission, of sorts, to the benefit of nearby trees and shrubs. During a period of active growth in early spring, trout lily roots draw phosphorus molecules out of the soil and transfer them to the plant’s leaves, capturing the mineral before it is washed away by melting snow and spring rains. Later, when the leaves wither, phosphorus is returned to the forest floor, adding to the richness of the soil.
Several species of early-emerging bees and flies depend on trout lilies and other spring ephemerals to tide them over until more plants come into bloom, and the insects return the favor by pollinating the flowers. This symbiotic relationship is especially evident, says Peter Bernhardt, between trout lilies and a particular species of mining bee, aptly named Andrena erythronii.
The female A. erythronii digs a long branching tunnel with a brood cell at the base of each branch, stocking the cells with nectar and a ball of pollen. A single egg is laid on each pollen ball, and the larvae hatch and develop inside their own private cells, feeding on the store of trout lily nectar and pollen.
Other early visitors include bumblebee queens, the only members of their extended families to survive the winter. The solitary (though pregnant) queens use pollen and nectar harvested from trout lilies to raise their first generation of workers. Later in the season, crickets and ground beetles get into the act, carrying off trout lily seeds to nibble on the edible tips, handily dispersing the plant’s genetic material.
Not all trout lilies require pollination in order to reproduce. In fact, most North American species form large colonies mainly through offshoots known as droppers, which grow from the base of older corms. These colonies are made up of many one-leaved clones and a few two-leaved members, which are the only ones able to bear flowers.
Trout lilies require moist, humus-rich soil and partial to light deciduous shade. Besides E. americanum, there are several West Coast species that make nice woodland or rock garden plants. E. tuolumnense, from central California, has bright green, unmottled leaves and sulphur-yellow blooms; the flowers of coast fawn lily (E. revolutum), native to British Columbia and California, are lavender-white fading to purple. ‘White Beauty,’ a popular form of coast fawn lily, has larger, pure white flowers, each with a red circle inside its throat.
The European species (E. dens-canis) is also available, as well as a showy yellow hybrid called ‘Pagoda,’ a cross between E. revolutum ‘White Beauty’ and E. tuolumnense. (A cautionary note: I planted ‘Pagoda’ last fall, and just before the plants were about to bloom, they were eaten by deer or groundhogs.)
Trout lily season, unlike fishing season, is over all too soon. By the time the rest of the plant world is just waking up, these ephemeral beauties are retiring to their underground beds, their work for the year already done. But even though their performance is brief, trout lilies play an essential role in the life of the forest, never missing their cue, and always bowing out gracefully when it’s time for other players to take the stage.
Reference:
Bernhardt, Peter. "Wily Violets and Underground Orchids." New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Trout Lily sources:
McClure & Zimmerman, P.O. Box 368, Friesland, Wis., 53935. Phone: (800) 883-6998. (E. tuolumnense, E. dens-canis, E x ‘Pagoda’)
White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Litchfield, Conn., 06759. Phone: (800) 503-9624. (E. dens-canis, E. x ‘Pagoda,’ E. revolutum ‘White Beauty’)
Busse Gardens, 17160 245th Avenue NW, Big Lake, Minn., 55309. Phone: (800) 544-3192. (E. americanum).

