(A) Dog-tooth Violet; Yellow Adder’s Tongue (Erythronium americanum). These flowers are familiar and welcome ones to all who wander beside woodland brooks in the spring. The name “Violet” is of course a misnomer. It is often locally known as the “Trout Lily” or the “Fawn Lily,” both of which names are far more appropriate than those given it generally.
The single 6-parted flower grows at the top of a scape from 5 to 10 in. high. Two elliptical-lanceolate leaves clasp the scape at its base, near the scaly bulb; they are pale green, mottled with purple and white. This species blooms in April and May in moist woods or swamps, from N. B. to Minn. and southward.
(B) Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) is a beautiful species, its leaves resembling those of the [Lily-of-the-Valley]. The three to six pendulous, bell-shaped flowers are cream-colored within and greenish outside. Three large, oblong, pointed leaves clasp the flower scape at its base. The plant is about 6 to 16 in. high; it flowers during June in damp woods from Labrador to Man. and southward.
Wild Spikenard (Smilacina racemosa) is quite an imposing plant, with its long, curving, zigzag stem, its many light-green, deeply ribbed leaves and its feathery terminal flower clusters.
The white flowers are tiny but perfect, with a 6-parted perianth, six slender stamens, and a short, thick style. The stem is rather angular and attains a length of from 1 to 3 feet; alternating along it are the large, oval, sharply pointed leaves, with parallel ribs and wavy edge. The perennial rootstalk is thick and fleshy. Spikenard is quite abundant in moist rich, uncleared ground, flowering in May and June, from Me. to Minn. southward.
False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina stellata) bears some resemblance to the last species, but the flowers are much larger and few in number, usually only six or eight terminating the zigzag stem. The leaves are broader at the bases and slightly clasp the stem, whereas those of the last species have very short stems. It grows commonly, but not as much so as the last, on moist banks and in meadows, from Me. to Minn. and southward.
(A) Canada Mayflower; False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum canadense) is a very abundant woodland plant, growing in colonies, thousands of them sometimes carpeting pine woods with their dark-green glossy leaves. The two, or three broad, ovate-lanceolate, shiny green leaves are rather heart-shaped at the base, seated on the stem or very nearly so. The flower perianth has four divisions. After the flowering season both of these plants have berries; at first a creamy white, spotted with brown, and later turning to a dull ruby-red.