Yellow Trout Lily

Yellow Trout Lily

Yellow Trout Lily is a small town in North Australia that contains a scenic beach and abundant fishing opportunities. It is also famous as the fallback location for ships who were in search of the fabled 'Southern Cross Medal' on their arrival to Australian shores in the 1850's. Due to the complexity and rarity of this medal, the town has become an important tourist destination and successful fishing enterprise.Conditions Comments: Trout lily must be planted where it will receive ample sun in early spring. It makes an attractive seasonal ground cover. A leafy wintercover, left in place in spring, is desireable. Clumps of plants that include many leaves and few flowers should be divided.

Lily

Range & Habitat: The native Yellow Trout Lily is occasional in southern Illinois, while in the rest of the state it is uncommon or absent (see Distribution Map). Outside of southern Illinois, it is largely restricted to the eastern half of the state. Illinois lies toward the western range limit of this plant; it is more common further to the east. Habitats include rich woodlands, wooded bluffs, rocky woodlands, and banks of streams. Yellow Trout Lily is found in deciduous woodlands, where Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), and other deciduous trees are present.Faunal Associations: The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract largely bees, including bumblebees, Mason bees, and Andrenid bees. One bee species, Andrena erythronii, is a weak oligolege (specialist pollinator) of Erythronium spp. (Trout Lilies). Like several other woodland wildflowers, the seeds of Yellow Trout Lily are distributed in part by ants, which are attracted to their food appendages.

Because the leaves of this plant are relatively small and inconspicuous, they are browsed by White-tailed Deer to only a limited extent. The mottled pattern of the leaves helps to disguise them from such mammalian herbivores as they lack color vision.I seem to have these all over the edges of our yard! We just moved in the winter and now that the snow is gone, the muddy areas, near the woods, is blanketed with what looks like these lilies... sprouts of purple and green leaves everywhere. Can a person plant grass seed amongst these? I'm sure the flowers are nice, but we would honestly rather have grass. Thanks in advance for any help on the matter!Both the Yellow and the White Trout Lily have tulip-like green leaves with silvery-maroon mottled markings. The plants will spread slowly to form colonies, but can take many years to flower. A single, very attractive flower will bloom for just a few days on mature plants early in the spring. The plant will fade into dormancy by mid-summer. (Source: www.prairiemoon.com)