Trout-lily, also called Adder's-tongue has the scientific name Erythronium americanum. Another name, Dogtooth Violet, refers to the tooth-appearing corm which is edible and reportedly tastes like cucumber. Too much consumption of the corm reportedly causes vomiting besides which I could not bear to destroy this beauty by eating it. The reference to trout allegedly comes from the mottled leaves resembling brook trout which are commonly found in streams along which they flower. A denizen of wet and shady woodlands this early spring flower appears just as the spring warblers start snapping up black flies above. I found this on the bank of an unnamed brook on the Katherine Breton Preserve in Lisbon, Maine. They often reproduce by budding off from the corm and large colonies can form in one location. These colonies have been aged up to 300 years.
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