A lily by any other Name

Pagoda fawn lily is a vigorous hybrid.

Pagoda fawn lilies combine nicely with lungwort's blue blossoms (Pulmonaria officinalis).

The coastal trout lily, aka mahogany fawn lily, E. revolutum, is native to the Pacific Northwest.

Fawn lilies naturalize to create beautiful ground covers.

Fawn lilies are spring ephemeral plants, as they die back after flowering.

Yellow trout lily, E. americanum, has distinctive speckled foliage.

Yellow trout lilies do well in shade to partial shade. E. americanum.

The pretty nodding flowers of a yellow trout lily, E. americanum.

Erythroniums spread undergound via cormels and runners.

 Common Name:  trout lilies, dog-tooth violets, fawn lilies, adder's tongue
Botanical Name:  Erythronium
Form:    low, vase shaped
Family:  Liliaceae
Genus:  Erythronium
Species:  numerous
Plant Type: corms, herbaceous perennial
Mature Size:  up to 8 inches including flowers
Origin:  North America, Eurasia
Hardiness Zone: 3 to 8
Foliage:  wide, strap-like leaves up to 6” long, deep green with brownish mottled markings
Flowers: nodding, lily-like with 6 recurved petals in yellow, pink or mauve (depending on the species) om leafless stems in March, April.
Exposure:  partial shade to shade
Soil:  moist, acidic fertile loam
Uses:  woodland & shade gardens, borders, naturalize
Attracts: early bees & another pollinators
Invasive Tendencies: naturalizes, but not a nuisance
Tolerates: deer
Propagation: cormels
​Problems:  slugs and snails

Comments: 
There are over 20 erythronium species globally, and all of them produce dainty nodding flowers with six recurved petals. The yellow trout lily, E. americanum, is a lovely North American indigenous wildflower. It also has a myriad of common names including yellow dog-tooth violet, yellow fawn lily and yellow adder’s tongue. These names are misleading as there are neither violets nor a fawn, a dog, or an adder. The common names refer to some similarity to part of an animal part, such as dog-tooth violets. It refers to the tooth-like shape of their underground corms.
 
Erythroniums naturally grow in the temperature climates of North America, Asia and Europe. Their ability to naturalize in shaded wooded locations makes these little lilies a treasured plant.  Despite their ability to spread, erythroniums, do not transplant well. As a word of warning, if you see these beauties growing in the wild, it is illegal to dig them up. Take a picture instead.
 
Erythroniums perform best in shaded to partly shaded areas in moist fertile, acidic soil. Plant corms 2 to 3 inches deep and 4 to 5 inches apart. Colonies soon form as offsets and underground runners are produced. Don’t worry about them becoming invasive as they don’t pop everywhere. Because of their beauty and their ability to grow in shaded, wooded locations, erythroniums are coveted plants.
 
As with all erythroniums, their leaves emerge from an underground corm in early spring. These basal leaves form a rosette where a central leafless flower stem emerges. Their leaves resemble broad straps that are often speckled, mottled brown, giving way to their ‘trout lily’ common name.
 
Don’t panic when the leaves die back after flowering. Erythroniums are spring ephemeral, which means they produce foliage & flower in a short period of time, then they die back. Since they disappear after blooming, mark the planting location so you don’t dig them up by mistake or plant on top of them.
 
It would be nice to grow Erythroniums in containers, however, like many bulbous it is not recommended.  When grown in pots, their roots are not sufficiently insulated against winter’s cold and fluctuating temperatures. It’s best to grow them in the ground where the thermal heat of the earth helps to keep them warm.

Common Species
Erythronium albidum: white fawn & trout lily, tooth-lily, eastern USA & Ontario, white.
E. americanum: yellow trout lily, adder’s tongue, dogtooth violet, eastern Canada & the USA.
E. dens-canis: dog’s tooth violet, Southern & Central Europe
E. revolutum, Coastal, Mahogany Fawn Lily, Pacific Northwest
E. grandiflorum: dogtooth lily, glacier lily, yellow fawn lily, western Canada & western USA.
E. californicum: California fawn lily
E. helenae: Pacific fawn lily, California

California fawn lily, E. californicum, has large blossoms up to 2 inches across.

Yellow trout lily is also known as yellow dog-tooth violet. Erythronium americanum.

Pagoda fawn lilies have larger flowers than the species.

Lungwort, heather and tulips are good erythroniums companions.

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