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 lily, common name for the Liliaceae, a plant family numbering several thousand species of as many as 300 genera, widely distributed over the earth and particularly abundant in warm temperate and tropical regions.
..... Click the link for more information. 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 Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , class Liliatae, order Liliopsida, family Liliaceae.

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.