Adder’s Tongue (American)/Trout Lily

September 4th, 2008

Botanical Name: Erythronium Americanum (KER-GAWL)
Family: N.O. Liliaceae

Synonyms: Serpent’s Tongue. Dog’s Tooth Violet. Yellow Snowdrop.
Other Names: Adder’s tongue, American trout-lily, Dog’s tooth violet, Serpent’s Tongue, Yellow Adder’s-tongue, Yellow fawn-lily, Yellow Snowdrop
Parts Used: Leaves, bulbs.
Habitat: Eastern United States of America, from New Brunswick to Florida, and westwards to Ontario and Arkansas.
The American Dog’s Tooth Violet or Adder’s Tongue, Erythronium Americanum (Ker Gawl), is a very beautiful early spring flower of the Eastern United States of America, belonging to the Lily family. It grows in damp, open woodlands from New Brunswick to Florida and westwards to Ontario and Arkansas.

Description:Trout Lilies (Erythronium americanum) are a beautiful spring wildflower that dot the forest landscape with bright yellow blossoms. Their common name comes from the leaf which is covered with brown spots like the speckled body of a trout.

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The plant, which is quite smooth, grows from a small, slender, ovoid, fawn-coloured corm, 1/3 to 1 inch long which is quite deeply buried in the soil and is of solid, firm consistence and white and starchy internally.
The stem is slender, a few inches high, and bears near the ground, on footstalks 2 to 3 inches long, a pair of oblong, dark-green, purplish-blotched leaves, the blades about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide, minutely wrinkled, with parallel, longitudinal veins. The stem terminates in a handsome, large, pendulous, lily-like flower, an inch across, with the perianth divisions strongly recurved, bright yellow in colour, often tinged with purple and finely dotted within at the base, and with six stamens. It flowers in the latter part of April and early in May.

The Trout Lilies blossom has delicate sunny yellow petals that gently curl back exposing the anthers. Each flower has six tepals, comprised of three petals and three sepals. The petals are entirely yellow, while the sepals are yellow on the front and brownish on the back. The flower will close each evening and open up in the warm morning sun. A trout lily may take as many as seven years to become a mature plant from a seed. Only plants with two leaves will flower that year.

What is most fascinating about the Trout Lily is its seeds are dispersed by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a fleshy structure attached to the outside of the seed called an elaiosome. The elaiosome is rich in oils that contain lipids and proteins. The ants will carry the seed to their nest to feed the larvae the elaiosome. The seed is then discarded in their waste pile which is rich in nutrients for the seed. This symbiotic relationship benefits the ant in the form of food, but it also benefits the plant as well. The seed is dispersed to limit competition, but it is also protected from rodents who would most likely eat the seed if it was left under the plant. Also, the seed is placed in a nutrient rich area in the ants nest, giving it a great head start. Other plants that have elaiosomes are Wild Ginger , Bloodroot, Dutchman’s breeches, and Twinleaf.

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.

Medicinal Action and Uses:
The constituents of the plant have not yet been analysed. The fresh leaves and corm, and to a lesser degree the rest of the plant, are emetic.

The fresh leaves having emollient and anti-scrofulous properties are mostly used in the form of a stimulating poultice, applied to swellings, tumours and scrofulous ulcers.

The infusion is taken internally in wineglassful doses. It is reputed of use in dropsy, hiccough and vomiting.

The recent bulbs have been used as a substitute for colchicum. They are emetic in doses of 25 to 30 grains.

Caution! Trout Lily can be strongly emetic in some people (which means it makes you throw up a lot).

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/adder008.html

http://indyparks.blogspot.com/2008/04/myrmecochory-trout-lily.html