The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
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.
