Erythronium albidum (White Trout Lily)
| Also known as: | White Fawn Lily, White Dog-tooth Violet, White Adder's Tongue |
|---|---|
| Genus: | Erythronium |
| Family: | Liliaceae (Lily) |
| Life cycle: | perennial |
| Origin: | native |
| Habitat: | part shade, shade; moist woods |
| Bloom season: | April - May |
| Plant height: | 4 to 8 inches |
| Wetland Indicator Status: | GP: FACU MW: FACU NCNE: FACU |
| MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
| National distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
Pick an image for a larger view. See the glossary for icon descriptions.
Detailed Information
Flower: 
![[photo of flowers]](/udata/r9ndp23q/white/white-trout-lily_0501_095253.jpg)
A single, nodding flower at the end of a stiff naked stalk up to 8 inches (7 to 20 cm) long. Flowers have 6 lance-elliptic tepals (3 petals and 3 similar sepals) up to 1½ inches (22 to 40 mm) long, white usually tinged purplish on the outer surface. There are 6 long stamens in the center with bright yellow tips (anthers). Flowers open in the morning, the tepals flaring out and back, and close up at night.
Leaves:
![[photo of leaves]](/udata/r9ndp23q/white/white-trout-lily_0430_162645.jpg)
Leaves are all basal, flowering plants with a pair of leaves and non-flowering plants with one. Leaves are lance-elliptic to oval to egg-shaped, 3 to 9 inches (to 22 cm) long, to 2 inches wide, toothless, hairless, tapering at both ends, on a slender stalk that arises from an underground bulb, most bulbs not producing flowers. Color is blue-green irregularly mottled with purplish brown, the mottling typically fading with age.
Fruit:
![[photo of developing fruit]](/udata/r9ndp23q/white/erythronium-albidum-white-trout-lily_0427_113228.jpg)
Fruit is a capsule, generally oval, at maturity held erect and 3/8 to about 1 inch (10 to 22 mm) long. Reproduction by non-flowering plants is via stolons (horizontal stems), that are buried just below the surface and form a new bulb at the end, from which a new shoot emerges the following year.
Notes:
White Trout Lily is one of the first woodland flowers to bloom in the spring. It can form massive colonies—there are literally millions of them at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. The leaves of trout lilies are easily recognizable, but there are multiple species that have the same kind of leaves and grow at the same time in the same habitat. They aren't very distinguishable when not flowering. Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans), which is very rare and has much smaller white flowers typically with only 4 tepals, and Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum), which has yellow flowers and is restricted to the easternmost counties of Minnesota. White Trout Lily is often mistaken for the endangered Dwarf, with which it often grows side by side, but the flower size difference is unmistakable.
Native Plant Nurseries, Restoration and Landscaping Services ↓
Map of native plant resources in the upper midwest
More photos
White Trout Lily plants
a colony of White Trout Lily, with Dutchman's Breeches
budding plants in the snow
flowers waiting to open
White Trout Lily (left) with Dwarf Trout Lily (right)
White Trout Lily (left) with Dwarf Trout Lily (right)
White Trout Lily pollinators
White Trout Lily plants
a colony of White Trout Lily, with Dutchman's Breeches
budding plants in the snow
flowers waiting to open
White Trout Lily (left) with Dwarf Trout Lily (right)
White Trout Lily (left) with Dwarf Trout Lily (right)
White Trout Lily pollinatorsPhotos by K. Chayka taken in Anoka, Goodhue and Rice counties. Other photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk and Tony Ernst.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2009-04-21 10:41:22
Walking the Red Jacket Bike trail in the city limits of Mankato, MN has patches of these floweres along the trail.
on: 2010-06-19 20:09:27
There are several patches of white trout lilies around the Rum River Roadside Rest area, about 10 miles north of Milaca, on Hwy. 169. Best time to see them in blossom seems to be early May. They are interspersed among the hundres of trilliums. These, apparently, are NOT the endangered Dwarf Trout Lily.
on: 2012-04-10 08:33:53
Lots of these were along the trails in Beaver Creek Valley State Park, ready to bloom this past weekend but we didn't see any blooms open.
on: 2013-05-10 13:41:52
One open bloom in Mullins Woodland on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. Didn't seen any other blooms.
on: 2013-05-15 12:49:10
I saw several of these in bloom today at the Dodge Center Creek Park (City Park).
on: 2014-07-28 15:12:02
Many in neighbors lawn and in a park south of town, I first thought they were dwarf trout lilies, which are endangered, but now think they are white trout lilies.
on: 2015-04-19 20:07:09
This is blooming on the DNR trail south of New Ulm right now. The leaves are everywhere but only a few have flowers.
on: 2015-04-26 20:39:46
They are blooming now and easily found along the trails.
on: 2015-05-04 22:20:47
Isanti County is not marked on the map but we do have a huge population of them on the family farm, near the northern edge of Isanti County. The 10 acre woods is carpeted in White Trout Lilies right now.
on: 2015-05-05 17:27:02
These are blooming in my neighbors back yard.
on: 2016-03-10 09:23:40
These are growing in large numbers along the hiking trail in Lofgren Park.
on: 2016-04-23 21:37:50
A small patch are in bloom in a neighbor's yard. About 1-2 dozen are in the grass next to the garage. We are not near water or woods.
on: 2016-04-28 22:41:59
Found numerous extensive colonies of White Trout Lilies along the section of the Skunk Cabbage Trail that follows the Kettle River. Spotted 4-28-2016.
on: 2016-04-30 15:04:50
Trout lilies in full force in Mayville Township. This is the first year I have seen them. We have both the white and yellow ones. I'll have to get a closer look for the dwarf variety.
on: 2016-05-05 14:36:51
Did not know what all those gorgeous little flowers were--thanks for the web site so I could identify them as White Trout lilies.
on: 2017-04-21 19:14:23
Thousands of plants blooming in the park. Beautiful!
on: 2017-05-02 09:33:20
Does anyone know why the huge patches of leaves don't flower? Do they need a special type of fungus in the soil like lady's slipper?
on: 2017-05-02 09:54:32
Non-flowering, vegetative shoots are not all that uncommon in the plant world. As for trout lilies, at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park (Rice County, MN) the forest floor is carpeted with millions of trout lily leaves and only a small percent send up flowering stems. We see only a small percent flowering in our own garden, too. Since they easily spread vegetatively, there isn't as much pressure to flower and produce seed in order to survive.
on: 2018-05-02 15:27:38
Yes, millions of the leaves of these carpeting Oxbow Park right now as well, but most are non-flowering. However, found a few solitary blooms here and there along Zumbro and Maple Trails, and a nicely sized patch of all flowering ones on a western-facing slope along Yeager Trail.
on: 2018-05-06 21:32:05
I have one flower bed full of these are they are so pretty for w few weeks in the early spring. Last year was my first spring in this house and I had never seen these plants before.
on: 2018-05-13 10:18:43
Just came across a patch of these yesterday blooming along a trail by Cenaiko Lake in Coon Rapids. I'd never seen this flower before - lovely!
on: 2018-05-25 10:54:14
There were many blooming along the south shore this past week, beautiful! I had never seen them before.
on: 2019-04-21 14:14:58
A large patch of these suddenly appeared in my lawn a few years ago. I have no idea how they came to be there. There were no flowers the first few years but the leaves are unmistakable. Last year a few white flowers appeared. I am hoping for more this year.
on: 2019-05-05 17:56:07
I have a small colony of white Trout Lillies near Paynesville. However, on May 5th, 2019 we visited MacDougal Farm between Royalton and Bowlus. The Trout Lillies there are amazingly prolific, as are wild ginger and spring beauty. It is still a bit early this year. One more week will make a difference on the development of the plants his year. One must step carefully. Trout Lillies are blooming profusely on the low areas, and on top of the hills will bloom in a week from now. This is what a forest should look like. Such an amazing place.
on: 2019-05-11 14:22:38
Spotted these along the City trails along the Zumbro River South Fork.They appeared about 2 weeks ago and are carpeting the forest floor here. Do they have any folklore connected to them? We just moved here from the Adirondacks in NE NYS and are getting acquainted with all the "prairie plants."
on: 2020-04-25 23:02:05
Took a walk out on back of our property and found dozens of the beautiful flowers blooming in a grassy area.
on: 2020-05-02 22:24:09
Saw several of these today on the edge of the woods in town near my house. They were not blooming but the leaves were so unique I had to look it up.
on: 2020-05-05 14:49:25
Millions out this year, it was a damp Fall so may have good conditions for growth.
on: 2020-05-05 22:52:34
These grow in our woods, and are a welcome sign of spring each year. They are even spreading into the shady parts of the lawn. Some bloom and some don't. Some have popped up by our front yard tree and are flowering this year, possibly traveling by seed? I love watching for them and photographing them each year.
on: 2020-05-09 19:35:01
Hundreds of trout lilies are in bloom now along the hiking club trail
on: 2020-05-16 16:05:03
We have a bunch of the leaves only in our backyard. They seem to have overtaken the grass. I didn’t know they bloomed until I saw some in our woods.
on: 2020-05-27 10:22:40
These flowers appeared in my front garden a few years back. Now I have a rather large section of them. I really like that they sprout early and that the bees seem to like them. They are beautiful.
on: 2021-04-15 19:36:46
Millions blooming
on: 2021-04-18 21:31:42
A lot of them found at Beaver Creek Valley State park in bloom. April 18.
on: 2021-04-19 14:31:31
I have a big patch of these beauties growing in my shade garden on the south side of Lake Washington (LeSueur County). Many in bloom on April 18, 2021.
on: 2021-04-22 19:57:50
Saw only one white trout lily on the south trail. Saw numerous yellow trout Lily.
on: 2021-04-24 15:13:11
There are hundreds of these along the River Trail at Camden State Park and hundreds more on Loon Island at Lake Shetek. There are many, many more leaves than flowers.
on: 2021-04-28 16:25:35
I live on the Crow River, across from Crow Hassan Regional Park. I have some wooded areas that are natural maple hardwoods and delightedly found patches of white trout lillies here.
on: 2021-04-29 15:52:06
I have hundreds growing on the edge of my shade gardens next to a wooded slope at my lake cabin on the south side of Lake Washington (10 miles from Mankato).
on: 2021-05-14 18:17:02
Remodeling a cabin and these flowers are all over the back yard woodland absolutely stunning.
on: 2021-05-30 13:01:12
Tons of them in my back yard for the past few years. Can anyone tell me how the actual disappearance happens?