Above: Trout Lily, aka Dogtooth Violet. It really is a lily and not a violet, however. Sometimes the pale yellow flowers are hidden beneath leaves, but the wide mottled leaves will still provide an easy identity. It blooms anywhere from mid-March to late April, depending on the elevation. It's pollinated by ants. Once a seed of the trout lily is pollinated, it might take up to 7 years to form a mature plant. The plant sprouts from a corm that may lie as deep as several inches, and the corm may send out shoots in all directions to form large colonies of the flower. It thrives in the deciduous woodlands of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, showing up early in spring before the trees leaf out. It needs the filtered light and rich humus of the spring forest to grow well.

Below: I believe that this may be a wild geranium, even though it seems to be darker in color than some I've seen. It's common along the banks of Straight Fork below Round Bottom. It blooms at the same time as the trout lily and white-fringed phacelia before the trees leaf out.