This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Erythronium dens-canis is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Erythronium dens-canis | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Erythronium dens-canis (right)
and Anemone hepatica ( left) |
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Erythronium dens-canis L. |
Erythronium dens-canis (common name Dog's tooth violet or Dogtooth violet) is a small herbaceous flowering plant in the Liliaceae, native to Europe, where it is the only naturally occurring species.
It produces a solitary white, pink or lilac flower at the beginning of spring. The petals (growing to approx. 3 cm) are reflexed at the top and are yellow tinted at the base. The brown spotted leaves are ovate to lanceolate and grow in pairs. The cormous white rootstocks are oblong and resemble a dog's tooth in appearance; hence the name.
It can be found growing in shady and humid undergrowth of mountane southern Europe.
In contrast to most plants with the common name "violet," E. dens-canis is not in genus Viola. In areas of North America, several other Erythronium species are referred to locally as Dogtooth violet.
Uses
It is often grown as an ornamental garden plant.
The plant is edible, and the leaves may be consumed raw in salad, or boiled as a leaf vegetable. The corm is also the source of a starch used in making vermicelli [1].
Media related to Dog's tooth violet (Erythronium dens-canis) at Wikimedia Commons
 |
This Liliales article is a stub. Please help Wikipedia grow by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 November 2008, at 05:13.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Erythronium dens-canis".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.