Maianthemum Dilatatum, False Lily-of-the-Valley

Day 218: A close relative of False Solomon's Seal, at first glance, False Lily-of-the-Valley resembles its fragrant namesake, normally bearing two (occasionally 3) heart-shaped leaves beneath the flowering stalk. However, its flowers do not resemble little bells, nor do they carry the perfume typical of the old-fashioned garden favourite. For all of how I curse taxonomists (especially those who assign plant names), in the early days of the science, binomials were generally based on the characteristics of the creature they described. Maianthemum dilatatum is a relic of that era. The scientific name of False Lily-of-the-Valley is descriptive: Maianthemum dilatatum, i.e., a flower which blooms in May ("Mai" - May; "-anthemon" - flower) and spreads out ("dilatatus"), covering the ground as effectively as the true Lily-of-the-Valley gardeners hate/love. I welcome this native in the woods at the edge of my property where it masses in the rich compost of thirty years' accumulation of grass clippings.