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__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
| name = ''Erythronium''
| name = ''Erythronium''
| cultivar =
| cultivar =
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Erythronium (from the Greek word for red, applied to the purple-rose European species). Liliaceae. Dog's-tooth Violet (although in no sense a violet). Adder's-tongue. Small spring-flowering hardy scapose bulbous plants.
Erythroniums have bulbs standing erect and from oblong to linear in form, 2 radical Lvs., which in most species are handsomely mottled: scape slender and leafless, producing from 1 to many nodding very attractive fls.; perianth of 6 similar divisions, usually recurved; stamens 6 and a single 3-lobed style: fr. an oblong or obovoid more or less 3-angled loculicidal caps.—Handsome plants of the north temperate zone. One belongs to the Old World, 4 to E. N. Amer., 2 are found m the Rocky Mts., while in the cool woods and high mountains from N. Calif. to the British possessions the genus is represented by about 9 species and a number of well-marked varieties. The species are confused or variable. The first and perhaps second year from seed, the plants bear a single lf. and do not bloom. Some of the species spread in large patches, by means of underground stolons. The bulb is scaly outside but with a solid interior, being really a corm.
The erythroniums are most interesting spring flowers. They succeed in any light soil, particularly in partial shade. In common with all herbaceous perennials, especially those that produce bulbs or corms, they profit by a winter mulch of leaves or litter.—The western erythroniums are all plants of the cool woodlands, except a few that grow at such altitudes as to reach like conditions. They thrive best in shade, a thoroughly drained soil, moist and rich in mold, a surface covering of half rotten leaves tending to equalize conditions. Any good fibrous material, as fibrous peat, coconut fiber or spent tanbark, or even well-rotted sod, will answer the purpose to lighten the soil and give that abundance of mold they delight in. Pockets in shaded rockwork give ideal situations. They will thrive naturalized on cool wooded slopes; and where the drainage is good they will thrive in grass. The leaves ripen before the grass is cut and the effect is very good. Simply planted in boxes in a loose soil, rich in mold, and left year after vear in a shaded spot, they sometimes give splendid bloom. E. Hartwegii flowers very early, and stands more heat and dryness than any other variety. E. purpurascens and E. montanum, from high altitudes, tend to throw up their growth very late, and are on that account rather difficult to cult. All of the western species are very satisfactory garden plants. —The propagation of E. Dens-Canis and varieties, the eastern American species and E. Hartwegii, is by offsets. All of the other western species can be increased only by seeds. The eastern species should be planted at least 5 inches deep. When planting erythronium bulbs, cover with 2 inches of earth; as the bulbs themselves may be 2 inches long, this means that the holes should be 4 inches deep.
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==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==