Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

WHITE FAWN LILY

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Erythronium albidum Nutt.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-8 inches

Family: Liliaceae - Lily Family

Flowering Period: March, April

Also Called:

White dog's-tooth violet, trout lily, fawn lily.

Stems:

Stemless

Leaves:

2 in flowering form, 1 in non-flowering sterile form; elliptical-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, up to 6 inches long, .2 to 1.6 inch wide, flat to slightly folded, waxy, brownish-purplish mottled (occasionally not so when mature); tips tapering to slender points.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flower terminating stout stalk 4 to 8 inches long.

Flowers:

About 1 inch wide; perianth segments 6, similar, lanceolate, .8 to 1.6 inches long, white, tinged pink or lavender abaxially, with yellow adaxial spot at base, reflexed in bloom; stamens 6, yellow.

Fruits:

Capsule, rounded, erect or nodding, held off ground; seeds 1-3.

Habitat:

Moist woods and thickets, often on south slopes.

Distribution:

East 1/2 of Kansas.

Comments:

Occurs in large colonies, but often only a few plants flower. The common names "fawn lily" and "trout lily" refer to the mottling of the leaves which resembles the spots on a fawn's back or the speckling on a trout. The common name "dog's-tooth" refers to the resemblance of the bulb to a dog's tooth in Erythronium dens-canis which was used by Linnaeus to establish the genus. North American species have thick bulbs that bear little resemblance to a dog's tooth, so the name makes no sense here. English authors often formerly referred to any delicate flower as a "violet".

White fawn lily inflorescence