North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Erythronium albidum

Erythronium albidum Nutt.

white trout lily, blonde lilian, white fawnlily

Image ID: 7271
Image by: Parkins, Grant Morrow
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ERAL9
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Erythronium albidum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-12-17

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ERYTH3
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Erythronium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Fawnlily
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 25 species, north temperate and subarctic, of North America and Eurasia (especially diverse in w. North America).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Stolons are white shoots produced from the bulb. Most run horizontally, either underground or along the ground surface but beneath leaf litter. Flowering individuals often produce no stolons. The stolon characters in the key below are those of non-flowering individuals and refer to horizontal stolons only.
GENUS REFERENCES: Parks & Hardin (1963)=Z; Mathew (1992)=Y; Allen & Robertson in FNA (2002a); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LILIAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Liliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Lily Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Early blooming, colony forming, scapose perennial growing in leaf litter of rich, mesic forests over calcareous substrates or in very nutrient-rich alluvial soils.
STEMS: Stem a red-tinged, smooth flowering scape.
LEAVES: Leaves basal and spreading-ascending, sessile, elliptic to lance-shaped, to 7 in. long, smooth, fleshy and usually with purplish-brown mottling.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers solitary, nodding at the tip of the scape, white, 1-2 in. long, trumpet-shaped, consisting of 6 reflexed tepals and 6 dangling stamens bearing brown anthers.
FRUITS: Fruit a green, rounded capsule held above the ground surface.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 4-8 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Basal
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Mar-May

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: White

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
3679	1991-0374			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
5982	3679	76	NCBG staff	1991-04-17	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ERAL9
USDA Common Name: White Fawnlily
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV), CAN (ON)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	UPL				FACU	FACU		FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Erythronium albidum
COMMON NAME: White Trout Lily, Blonde Lilian
SYNONYMY: [= C, K, Pa, S, Tn, Va, W, WV, Y; = E. albidum var. albidum - F, G]
PHENOLOGY: Mar-May.
HABITAT: Rich, mesic forests, over calcareous substrates or in very nutrient-rich alluvial soils.
COMMENTS: S. ON west to MN, south to n. VA, nw. GA, n. AL, MS, MO, and OK.
RANGE MAP: Erythronium albidum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Liliaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Lily Family)
SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Erythronium L. (Fawnlily)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 25 species, north temperate and subarctic, of North America and Eurasia (especially diverse in w. North America).
REFERENCE: Parks & Hardin (1963)=Z; Mathew (1992)=Y; Allen & Robertson in FNA (2002a); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Erythronium albidum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Erythronium albidum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Erythronium albidum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Erythronium albidum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Erythronium albidum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Erythronium albidum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 7271 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 29177 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 7271 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)