Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Bulbs
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A spring ephemeral wildflower of eastern North American forests, named for its mottled brown-and-green leaves that mimic the speckled flank of a brook trout. Each plant takes up to seven years of vegetative growth before producing its first solitary nodding yellow bloom.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Erythronium
Species: Erythronium americanum