Photo by Karen Bergeron
Copyright 2000
Photo by Deb Jackson
Copyright 2000 |
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Trout Lily
Erythronium americanum
Other Names: Adder's tongue, American trout-lily, Dog's
tooth violet, Serpent's Tongue, Yellow Adder's-tongue, Yellow fawn-lily, Yellow Snowdrop
Caution! Trout Lily
can be strongly emetic in some people (which means it makes you throw up a
lot).
Habitat
A North American native
perennial found growing in damp, open woodlands from New Brunswick to Florida and west to
Ontario and Arkansas. Cultivation: a member of the Lily family Trout Lily is cultivated by
seed or transplanting of the bulb or corm in fall. Prefers slightly acid well-drained
soil, plenty of humus and requires semi-shade. The root is a deeply buried, bulb-like
corm, light brown, about 1 inch long, and solid with white starchy flesh. Two or three
leaf blades grow from the base and are about 3 inches tall, oblong, smooth, dark green,
with purplish mottling, and about 1 inch wide. The slender stem is 3 to 4 inches long and
leafless. The flowers of Trout Lily can be bright white or creamy colored to bright yellow
it is about 3 inches across, lily-like and drupes with the six petals folded upwards. It
blooms in April and May. Gather edible fresh leaves, bulbs and flowers in spring and root
in summer to fall. Dry root for later medicinal herb use.
Properties
Edible and medicinal, the whole Trout Lily plant
is used as fresh salad additives, flowers are tasty, or cooked as a pot herb. Trout Lily
is used in alternative medicine as contraceptive, diuretic, emetic, emollient, febrifuge,
stimulant. Plant constituents include alph-methylene-butyrolactone which has antimutagenic
activity. This chemical prevents cell mutation and may prove to be a valuable
weapon in fighting all cancers. The leaves and bulb are crushed and used to
dress wounds and reduce swellings, for scrofula and other skin problems. A
medicinal tea made from the root and leaf is said to reduce fever and fainting,
tea also taken for ulcers, tumors and swollen glands.
Folklore
It is said that the Cherokee Indians would chew
the root and spite it in the water to make fish bite. The young women of one tribe ate the
raw plant in large quantities to prevent conception, probably due to the fact they were
too busy vomiting!
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