Template:Taxobox begin Template:Taxobox begin placement Template:Taxobox regnum entry Template:Taxobox divisio entry Template:Taxobox classis entry Template:Taxobox ordo entry Template:Taxobox familia entry Template:Taxobox genus entry Template:Taxobox species entry Template:Taxobox end placement Template:Taxobox section subdivision Maianthemum Racemosum Template:Taxobox end
Understory herbacious Lilly 1-3 feet in height. Leaves 7-12, Rhizomes Sympodial. Native to almost all Eastern United States.
syn Smilacina racemosa (L.) Desf.
Family - LILIACEAE - Lily Family
The species of genus Smilacina has been moved to the genus Maianthemum and this species is
now called Maianthemum racemosum.
"False Solomon's Seal" or "false spikenard" or Solomon's-plume" (smy-lass-EE-na:
ra-say-MO-sa)
Maianthemum racemosum subsp. racemosum
Graceful shade plants with feathery panicles of creamy white flowers covering the ends of
arching stems. Plants bloom in mid spring and in late summer are topped off with red berries.
This is a native north American wood land plant that grows well in the shade garden. Over time
plants will grow in to large clumps and are particularly attractive growing on a slope. Will take 4
or 5 years to bloom from seed but once established, very long lived. Plants have alternate leaves
on arching stems, leaves are some what hairy and light green in color, with tapered bases and short petioles. Flowering in mid to late
spring. flowers are small but clustered together in thick tapered panicles. Flowers are a creamy
white and fragrant. In late summer and early fall berries are red/brown with small dots on them,
in the fall the fruit dries to a red color but does not persist on the plant for very long.
This
plant grows into thick spreading clumps and should be planted in a shady area that is moist and
humus rich. Plants make an attractive addition to the shade garden growing well in constant
shade.
They look good all season long, giving the garden some nice structure to look at.
This species grows 24-30 inches tall and will form a clump 36 inches wide after a number years -
in the wild they tend to grow as single stemmed plants or developing into small clusters of stems
spread-out over a few square feet.
This species is native to North America from
Quebec to Tennessee and to Arizona. Great planted in the wood land setting or on a shady bank. Long
lived and easy to grow. Division in spring.
Plants have 36 chromosomes.
Hardy in USDA Zones 3-8. Sow seeds out side in a sheltered ___location for Germination next year
and the year after. The seeds need a few periods of alternating moist-warm and cold for
germination. Starting with 60 days moist-warm, and then cold 90 days. Germination is spread-
out over a few years.
Smilacina amplexicaulis Nuttall has been reduced to a subspecies of the above
species and is called Maianthemum racemosum subsp. amplexicaule. It is found
in Deciduous wood lands west of the Rocky mountains from British Columbia
south to Mexico.
Plants with acute inflorescence, shorter than 2MM.
Erect stems, leaves sessile with rounded leaf blades. Blooms mid spring.