Dogtooth Violet (redirected from Erythronium dens-canis)

dogtooth violet, originally a name for the Old World plant Erythronium denscanis, now applied also to several North American species of the same genus of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The most common is E. americanum, a lilylike yellow flower of the East and Middle West. Most of the other native species are Western. The names adder's-tongue and trout, fawn, snow, and glacier lily are also used interchangeably for the American species. Dogtooth violets (unrelated to the true violets) are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals. Dogtooth violet is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliatae, order Liliopsida, family Liliaceae.

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dogtooth violet

Any of the approximately 20 species of spring-blooming plants that make up the genus Erythronium, in the lily family, all native to North America except for the purple- or pink-flowered dogtooth violet of Europe (E. dens-canis). The nodding flowers, usually one to a plant or in small clusters, range in colour from white to purple. The two leaves, borne at the base of the plant, often are covered with white or brown spots. The common dogtooth violet of North America, E. americanum, has yellow flowers and brown-mottled leaves. Several species are grown as rock-garden ornamentals.

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Dogtooth Violet 

(Erythronium denscanis), also dogtooth, a species of bulbous plants. The name derives from the resemblance of the bulb to the canine tooth of a dog.