Georgia Piedmont, late February

 One of the beauties of early spring in the Georgia Piedmont is the dimpled trout lily.

Erythronium umbrilicatum has thick green leaves, speckled with a purplish brown. The flowers have six petals and are bright yellow. The anthers are purple.

I saw my first blooms of the year on Feb. 24 near Arabia Mountain. Last year, I saw them on Feb. 23 near Stone Mountain.

The biologists count trout lilies among the “spring ephemerals,” plants that thrive in the sunlight on the forest floor before the trees put on leaves. They ephemerals become dormant when the canopy fills in, shutting off sunlight below. The Georgia Native Plant Society lists trilliums, bloodroot and mayapples as spring ephemerals.

• Source: The Georgia Native Plant Society’s page on dimpled trout lilies is here:

https://gnps.org/march-2019-dimpled-trout-lily/