Another thank you to David Smith of Delaware for sharing a photograph with us of one of Delaware's native wildflowers (posted in this thread on the BPotD Submissions forum). Appreciated once again, David.

Common names for this eastern North American species include trout lily, American adder's tongue (a reference to the leaves) and dogtooth violet (a reference to the bulbs); an expanded explanation of the common names can be found on the Kemper Center for Home Gardening page for the plant.

Like many woodland understorey plants in eastern North America, Erythronium americanum produces leaves and flowers early in the spring, prior to the canopy trees flushing with leaves. This temporal adaptation is a method to maximize growth when light is most available to the plant, despite the cool temperatures associated with early spring. As it turns out, though, plant growth is optimal at cooler temperature regimes: see Lapointe, L and Lerat S. 2006. Annual growth of the spring ephemeral Erythronium americanum as a function of temperature and mycorrhizal status. Canadian Journal of Botany. 84:39-48. The researchers found that bulb biomass was increased for the set of plants exposed to a lower temperature regime (and that net nutrient uptake was not reduced for this set).

A scientific description of the genus Erythronium and Erythronium americanum can be found in the Flora of North America, while Missouri Plants has more photographs of the species and a shorter description.

Botany / horticulture resource link: I've linked to this site in a few previous entries, but not as a resource link – California Rare Fruit Growers “is the largest amateur fruit-growing organization in the world”. That 2007 Festival of the Fruit in San Diego is looking very appealing...! The site provides a number of excellent resources, including fruit factsheets.