Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily
One of Minnesota’s rarest endemics survives nowhere else on Earth, carpeting a few spring woods with flowers small enough to miss at walking speed.
Artwork inspired by Josephine Lutz Rollins
The species appears to have arisen from the common white trout lily and spreads mainly through above-ground offshoots, creating colonies of genetically similar plants. Its extremely restricted range makes each woodland slope vulnerable to development, erosion, invasive species, trampling, and changes in canopy or water.
Public appreciation must not become location pressure. Learn the plant from agency material, designated naturalist programs, or protected public routes where viewing is permitted; never geotag an individual colony, step off trail, collect a leaf, or assume abundant-looking shoots mean the species is secure.
- Federal status
- Endangered
- Global range
- Three Minnesota counties
- Family
- Lily family
Quick guide
- Conservation key
- Treat every tiny colony as irreplaceable habitat
- Flower window
- Search after snowmelt but before canopy leaf-out
Recognize a tiny endemic without turning rarity into pursuit
- First check scale
- Compare the unusually small flowers and leaves with common white trout lily before relying on location.
- Look for four or five tepals
- Count four or five tepals as supporting evidence, while allowing for variation and incomplete blooms.
- Notice above-ground runners
- Use above-ground runners to distinguish how this rare lily forms dense colonies within a very small range.
- Protect the location
- Stay on designated routes and remove precise coordinates from public observations of this vulnerable endemic.
Good to know
Common white trout lilies can grow nearby and look very similar; an uncertain identification should remain uncertain, especially without touching the plant.
Notice these
- tiny nodding white flower
- four or five swept tepals
- paired mottled leaves