Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

I took this picture last month on my trip to Pennsylvania. Finding these in bloom was such a joy. I had never seen them in person before!

I don’t know about you, but I find it really difficult to choose a favourite flowering woodland plant — the one I’m looking at is always my favourite at the time. But those gorgeous mottled leaves easily put trout lily somewhere up near the top. The foliage reminds me of Paphiopedilum orchids.

Anyways, definitely one of those life must-sees checked off the list, even if I didn’t know it was on the list until I saw them.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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5 thoughts on “Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

  1. I love woodland flowers, too. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and I always took them for granted. One of my all-time favorite** gardening books is The American Woodland Garden by Rick Darke … Worth reading if these plants interest you, and the photos are gorgeous.

    ** Besides You Grow Girl, of course. ;-)

  2. These are the sweetest flowers with such nice foliage. They would be a lovely addition to my woodland garden, where I just planted some Dodecatheon.
    Great photo.

  3. I love trout lilies too, and now realize I had taken them for granted a little bit because I see them quite a bit in NJ. I find it difficult to take good woodland photos, so I am impressed with this photo of trout lilies.
    I have a wildflower life list, too. Once I drove out of my way to stand in the rain and look at Dutchman’s Breeches for five minutes. I’m so glad I’m not the only one!

  4. I have loved trout lilies since childhood.
    I know a spot where they are being destroyed…. I can’t bear it and want to rescue them.

  5. I’m so happy to see these! When I was a little girl, I used to pick trout lilies for my mom from the woods behind our house. They’re so delicate that I rarely made it home before they wilted!

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