WHITE TROUTLILY 



Erythronium albidum Nuttall 



White troutlily is one of the daintiest of our early spring flowers, 

 and east of the Appalachian Mountains is much rarer than the yel- 

 low species, which it closely resembles in habit. The shining green 

 leaves are marked with pale mottlings of brownish purple, or in ex- 

 ceptional plants are entirely green. The flowers open only in bright 

 sunlight, and speedily close and wither when gathered. It is known in 

 some sections as dogtooth violet, but as it has no relation to the Violet 

 Family, the name troutlily, suggested by John Burroughs, seems most 

 appropriate. 



White troutlily is the common species in the Middle West, from 

 Texas to Minnesota, and eastward to the Appalachian Mountain region. 

 Here and there its seeds have chanced to cross the mountain barrier 

 and, carried down the streams, have lodged along the banks and estab- 

 lished colonies in the Piedmont regions from Georgia to northern 

 New Jersey. 



The specimen sketched was obtained in the Potomac Valley above 

 Washington, District of Columbia. 



PLATE 15 



