The sun doesn’t look as bright yellow this morning as this flower does. The Yellow Trout Lily emerges from the two basal leaves, which from seed to blooming takes 4-7 years. Until the corm reaches flowering size, it produces only a single, ground-level leaf per season. Most of the leaves in colonies I have in the woods are single leaves so it is nice to see a flower blossom.
The common name of trout lily is in reference to the mottled leaves and the appearance of the flowers during trout fishing season. It is also called Adder’s Tongue, due to the tongue-like shape of the flowering shoot and supposedly resembles an open mouth of a snake.
Yellow Trout Lily
