False Lily-Of-The-Valley Berries

Day 363: The berries of False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum dilatatum) are attractive in a native-plant garden, especially in the early stages of ripening when they are creamy white mottled with dark red. While not considered toxic to humans unless consumed in large quantities, these small fruits are an important food source for ground-foraging birds such as grouse as well as for small mammals. Humans find them relatively unpalatable in any event, although they were used medicinally by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The plant can monopolize its space under ideal circumstances where shaded and moisture meet its requirements, but is not difficult to keep within bounds or to thin to manageable proportions. In spring, it bears a raceme of small white flowers.

False Lily-of-the-Valley, Maianthemum Dilatatum

Day 226: At first glance, you might mistake Maianthemum dilatatum for the Lily-of-the-Valley you thought was a good idea at the time (as the saying goes), later experiencing some degree of regret as your flower beds began sprouting it in profusion. Known as False Lily-of-the-Valley for its obvious visual similarity to the persistent garden plant, this Maianthemum is also capable of filling in shady nooks with alacrity, but perhaps not with quite the same vigour as its namesake. It is kin to much larger False Solomon's Seal and also Star-Flowered Solomon's Seal, both of which are frequently referred to in short form as "Solomon's Seal" here in the Pacific Northwest. Unlike true Lily-of-the-Valley, its flowers are not bell-shaped, but somewhat upturned to welcome a wide range of insect pollinators including bees, flies and beetles. It is only lightly fragrant. It is known to associate with several common PNW plants including Swordfern, Oxalis, Spring Beauty and Stream Violet and flourishes in the same moist soils and partial shade which these plants prefer.

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.