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
  • Decoction of leaves used as a contraceptive
• 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

• May be confused with slim false Solomon’s seal (M. stellata)

	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 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

See General References

Specific References

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

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

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