Botanical atlas

Trout Lily

Erythronium americanum

Long before it was a garden curiosity, the trout lily was a familiar plant of the spring woods to many Native American nations, including the Iroquois and Cherokee, who gathered its mottled leaves in the earliest days of the thaw. The leaves were traditionally crushed or chewed fresh and applied as a poultice to bruises, swellings, and slow-healing skin ulcers, a simple field remedy pulled straight from the forest floor. The corms, though bitter and best cooked, were dug and eaten by some communities as a starchy addition to the spring diet, a welcome bit of green and gold after a long winter. The plant takes its name from the beautiful brown and green mottling of its leaves, said to echo the markings of a brook trout in the shallows nearby.

In tradition.

Long before it was a garden curiosity, the trout lily was a familiar plant of the spring woods to many Native American nations, including the Iroquois and Cherokee, who gathered its mottled leaves in the earliest days of the thaw. The leaves were traditionally crushed or chewed fresh and applied as a poultice to bruises, swellings, and slow-healing skin ulcers, a simple field remedy pulled straight from the forest floor. The corms, though bitter and best cooked, were dug and eaten by some communities as a starchy addition to the spring diet, a welcome bit of green and gold after a long winter. The plant takes its name from the beautiful brown and green mottling of its leaves, said to echo the markings of a brook trout in the shallows nearby.

Safety.

Trout lily's fresh corms and leaves have a history as an emetic, so eating them raw or in quantity can cause nausea and vomiting. Traditional use also affected fertility, so it should be avoided during pregnancy or while trying to conceive.