“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.”
― Luther Burbank

The Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is among my top ten spring plants. It looks almost tropical, with its spotted leaves and bright flowers, yet it grows in abundance in the moist woodlands of south-central Canada.

It’s an interesting plant, as there are often vast patches of Trout Lily with no blossoms at all. The young plants are sterile and have only one leaf. The mature plants have two leaves and bear a single blossom. It’s also known locally as Dog-Tooth Violet, though I prefer Trout Lily myself, as I believe it’s the white variety Erythronium albidum that actually resembles a tooth, but who am I to argue with local tradition? The name Trout Lily comes from the spotted leaves which resemble a trout’s skin and seems so much more appropriate to me.

When entering the forest, the Trout Lily is tough to spot, then you see one, and then another, each seemingly trying to outdo the last in their beauty, the forest floor a blanket of green wild leeks with spots of yellow everywhere. I love this time of year.

Nikon D300
Tamron 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm
1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

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