Fat False Solomon’s Seal :

Feathery False Lily-of-the-Valley, Solomon’s Plume
Maianthemum racemosum
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 (horizontal underground stems); often forms colonies
Stems unbranched, erect or arching, zig-zagging near the tip
Leaves
- Alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
- Ovate to oblong-elliptic, with smooth edges (entire), which are sometimes wavy
- Prominent parallel veins
- Clasping the stem (sessile)
Flowers
- Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a tight panicle (branching stem with flowers opening from the bottom up), growing from the plant’s tip, of many small, creamy-white, fluffy-looking 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 prominent, thick stamens (male flower parts) are longer than the inconspicuous tepals
- Fragrant
- Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
Fruit is a berry (a usually multi-seeded fruit with a fleshy ovary wall), initially yellow with red speckles, maturing to red with purple-speckles
Height 12-35 in.

Distribution

Native to California
- Grows in moist woodlands and along stream banks
- See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
Outside California, found across North America, from Canada to the United States, south into Mexico and Central America
Grows at elevations to 6,500 ft.

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

Wildlife
- Flowers visited by bees, ﬂies, and beetles
- Fruit eaten by numerous bird species, as well as small rodents
Native people
- Ate the fruit, raw or cooked
- Boiled and ate tender young stems
- Infusions of leaves used to treat coughs and as a contraceptive
- Decoctions of roots used to treat a variety of internal ailments, e.g. respiratory infections, kidney disease, heart trouble, and rheumatism
- Poultice of smashed roots or crushed leaves used to staunch wounds
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
racemosum (ray-sem-OH-sum) – meaning “with flowers in racemes,” a seeming contradiction since the inflorescence is a panicle; however, a panicle can be described as a compound raceme
Fat 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)
- Fat – due to the many fluffy-looking flowers in the plume-like flower cluster and/or the leaves, which are wider than those of slim false Solomon’s seal (M. stellata)

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
Fat 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)
Host to the fungus-like microorganism Phytophthora ramorum, which causes Sudden Oak Death (SOD)
- For a complete list of known hosts and host associates see USDA Risk Analysis for Phytophthora ramorum, pp.6-9

ID Tips

	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

¹ Raceme – unbranched stem with stalked flowers opening from the bottom up
² Panicle – branching stem with flowers opening from the bottom up

At Edgewood

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

Specific References

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

North Carolina Native Plant Society (NCNPS). 2017. Maianthemum racemosum. Plant Details.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

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

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

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.

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