Flora and Fauna: Wild Flowers African Violets, Orchids, Fish Ponds ...continuing the walk with me, in the Maryland countryside... Trout Lily Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) Native Perennial Lily Family (liliaceae) Bloom: Early Spring Propagation: Seed, Offsets Habitat: rich woodlands and meadows In rich moist woods in early March,one of my favorite native wildflowers, a tiny lily only six to ten inches tall can be found in the woodland regions of Maryland and other surrounding states,. This beautiful member of the Lily Family is a welcome spring sight and has many common names, including Trout Lily, Adder's Tongue, and Dog-tooth Violet. The Trout Lily is pollinated by ants, and after a seed is planted, it will take up to seven years to make a mature plant. Only plants that have two leaves will flower. The mature plant has two mottled basal leaves, and a small lily nodding from the top of a leafless stem (scape). The lily is yellow, with three sepals and three petals (six tepals). The sepals are yellow on the inside and purplish brown on the back. The petals are entirely yellow. The lily opens each morning and closes each night, but during the middle of a bright day the tepals open so far that they are all curved backwards (reflexed). The plant grows from a deep rootstock or *corm which is three to eight inches underground, and it often spreads from offshoots of this corm, thus creating colonies of trout lilies. They grow best in a deciduous woodland environment where they receive filtered light in the spring. They prefer a humus rich soil. This beautiful native flower is related to the Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lilly (Erythronium propullans) This is a endangered native species only found in Goodhue and Rice County, Minnesota. For more information and photos of this lovely speciman , check out this site: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/plants/dwarftro.html I love taking a trip down to the creek with my dogs What a beautiful combination! Common blue violets (viola sororia) with Spring Beauty (claytonia virginica) in a natural setting! Mushrooms growing on tree I hope you enjoyed this nature walk with me...