Slim False Solomon’s Seal

Starry False Lily of the Valley
Maianthemum stellatum
NATIVE

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Monocotyledon
  • Monocots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Butcher’s Broom Family (Ruscaceae)
• Perennial herb
  • Grows from rhizomes (underground, horizontal stems); often forms colonies
• Stems unbranched, erect or arching, zig-zagging near the tip
• Leaves
  • Alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
  • Lance-shaped to elliptic, with smooth edges (entire)
  • Prominent parallel veins
  • Clasping the stem (sessile)
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a raceme (unbranched stem with stalked flowers opening from the bottom up), growing from the plant’s tip, of 5-15 white, widely-spaced, star-shaped flowers
  • Each radially-symmetrical flower has 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals
    • 6 stamens (male flower parts) are slightly shorter than the tepals
    • Ovary superior (attached above other flower parts)
• Fruit is a berry (a usually multi-seeded fruit with a fleshy ovary wall), red-striped while maturing, red-purple to black at maturity
• Height to 28 in.

Distribution

• Native to California
  • Grows in moist woodlands and along stream banks
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Outside California, grows across much of North America, from Alaska to California in the west and from Newfoundland to the central Appalachian Mountains in the east
• Grows at elevations to 7,800 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Flowers pollinated by bees, flies, and beetles
  • Fruit eaten by numerous bird species, as well as small rodents
• Native people
  • Fruit eaten
  • Decoction of leaves used to treat coughs and as a contraceptive
  • Decoction of roots used for a variety of ailments, e.g. digestive ailments, venereal diseases, and menstrual disorders
  • Infusion of roots used as an antiseptic wash
• CAUTION – berries are edible, but large quantities have a laxative effect

Name Derivation

• Maianthemum (my-AN-the-mum) – from the Greek for “May flower,” referring to its blooming season
• stellatum (stel-LAY-tum) – from the Latin stella, “star,” referring to the flower shape
• Slim false Solomon’s seal
  • False Solomon’s seal – derives from the similarity of the leaves to the “true” Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum species; see below)
  • Slim – due to the simplicity of the flowers in the inflorescence and/or to the leaves, which are narrower than those of fat false Solomon’s seal (M. racemosum)

Notes

• Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or enlarged taproots) are well adapted to survive fire, our Mediterranean climate’s long, dry summers, and extended droughts
  • Above-ground growth dies back after flowering, while underground the plant survives with stored water and nutrients
• Slim false Solomon’s seal has seen several changes in taxonomy
  • Previously listed in Lily family
  • Genus name changed from Smilacina to Maianthemum
• “True” Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum species) does not grow natively in the Western states
  • Bell-like flowers hang in clusters from the leaf stalk
  • Berries are poisonous
  • Common name usually explained as referring to the large, circular seals (leaf stalk scars) on the rhizomes (Missouri)

ID Tips

• May be confused with fat false Solomon’s seal (M. racemosum)

	Slim False Solomon’s Seal	Fat False Solomon’s Seal
Leaves	narrow (slim)	wide (fat)
Inflorescence	raceme¹ ⋯ 5-15 flowers, widely spaced	panicle² ⋯  > 20 flowers, densely packed
Individual Flowers
Appearance	starlike	fluffy
Tepals	conspicuous	inconspicuous
Stamens	shorter than tepals … less stout	longer than tepals … more stout
Fragrance	no	yes
Fruit	red-striped to red	red-speckled to red

At Edgewood

• Found in woodlands
  • Found on the Sylvan trail, often side by side with fat false Solomon’s seal, in an area known as “Rose Alley” just beyond the waterfall
  • See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
• Flowers February – March

Specific References

Habeck, R.J. 2020. Maianthemum stellatum. Fire Effects Information System. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Laws, J.M. 2019. Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker’s Guide. Heyday Press, Berkeley, California.

Missouri Botanical Garden. Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum ‘Variegatum’. Plant Finder.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Dave’s Garden.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.