Trout Lily at Crothers Woods: April 2021

Crothers Woods is one of the best places to see spring wildflowers in the central Toronto region.

Today I had many including Trillium, Bloodroot and Trout Lily.

Trout Lily has brownish-mottled leaves:

Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)
Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)

and bears a solitary nodding flower:

Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)
Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)

The name refers to the similarity between the leaf markings and those of a trout.

Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)

Here is how the flower will look in a few days:

Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum)

Other botany:

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
Black Currant (Ribes nigrum)
Black Currant (Ribes nigrum)
Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)
Red Ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)
Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta)
Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta)
Cow-parsnip (Heracleum maximum)
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo)
White Elm (Ulmus americana)
Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)
Burdock (Arctium)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
May-apple (Podophylum peltatum)
Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
Pennsylvania Sedge
Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

MAILBOX

I think I have mentioned our little pair of cardinals whom we listen to in beds in the mornings – the male singing his heart out in a tree in the back lane . Yesterday  Tim was sweeping the lane in front of our place , and there the male cardinal was sitting in the middle of the lane as if stunned. One car actually drove right over him – with the wheels on either side.  Tim thought perhaps he had flown into a window or something.  He scooped him up in the dust pan and we put him on the table on the deck. He didn’t move a centimetre as I carried him up the stairs and set him down. Just staring at me. He stayed there for an hour or so still not moving. Some time later we noticed he had flown away. We didn’t know in what kind of shape.  But this morning he seemed to be back out there singing.  …. So a survivor. And a bird rescue!

NATURE POETRY

Aprul’s come back; the swellin’ buds of oak
Dim the fur hillsides with a purplish smoke;
The brooks are loose an’, singing to be seen,
(Like gals,) make all the hollers soft an’ green           – James Russell Lowell (1819–91)

Miles Hearn

2 thoughts on “Trout Lily at Crothers Woods: April 2021

  1. Lisa Volkov

    Wonderful news about the Cardinal’s survival. And spring continues apace! It’s wonderfully exciting to see things unfold in one of my favorite places. Thanks, Miles!

    Reply
  2. Pamela Stevens

    Thanks to earlier spring Walks with you Miles, I was able to recognize trout lily when it first appeared in the wild area of the garden last spring. And it is back this year, a more welcome guest than the coltsfoot!

    Pam Stevens

    Reply

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