Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maianthemum racemosum
FAMILY
Ruscaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Maianthemum from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Maianthemum racemosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum
INCLUDED WITHIN Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)
Maianthemum racemosum
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-06-001:
Smilacina racemosa FAMILY Liliaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera australis
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera racemosa
COMMON NAME:
False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_vara3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090405_025
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
Leaf veins are more deeply impressed than those of Polygonatum. — Patrick McMillan
COMPARE
Solomon's Plume, Solomon's Seal, Twisted Stalk, and two Bellworts
)
JK Marlow jkm120414_964
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
On the left Solomon's Seal; on the right, False Solomon's Seal.
)
JK Marlow jkm120421_150
April Hendersonvlle County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120421_243
April Hendersonvlle County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm140418_174
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1549
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_racemosum_03007
April NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Inclusion of Smilacina in Maianthemum remains controversial and uncertain, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
)
JK Marlow jkm0305zc_05
May Buncombe County NC
Botanical Gardens at Asheville
)
JK Marlow jkm0405m_13
May Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Numerous flowers in a dense terminal panicle 2-6" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm090503_044
May Polk County NC
False Solomon's Seal in the upper half of the pic; "real" in the lower half.
)
JK Marlow jkm100515_002
May Henderson County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
The stem is conspicuously angled in a zigzag fashion, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_racemosum_ra_1
May
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_racemosum_ra_2
May
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_racemosum_ra_e
May
Flowers have six tepals and six stamens.
)
JK Marlow jkm0308o_35
August Greenville County SC
Just before maturity the berry is green finely dotted with red, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmracemosum_nantahala
Month Unknown NC
Nantahala National Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maianthemum racemosum
FAMILY
Ruscaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Maianthemum racemosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)
Maianthemum racemosum
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-06-001:
Smilacina racemosa
FAMILY
Liliaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera australis
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera racemosa
1393
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist to dry forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain) (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
3-merous
6 tepals
6 stamens
Flowers in a terminal panicle
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red at maturity (variously mottled when immature)
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p198
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p136
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p173
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p034
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p130
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p138
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p346
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p166
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p165
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p025
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p366
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p367
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p422
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p401
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p013
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