Lilies — Genus (Lilium)
All the members of this genus are among our most beautiful flowers. In our range it includes eight species, of which seven are natives. The two species of Red Lily can readily be recognized because their perianth, or flower funnel, always opens upward.
Wood Lily; Wild Orange-red Lily (Lilium philadelphicum) has a leafy stem 1 to 3 feet high, at its summit bearing one to four erect (not pendulous) flowers; the divisions of the perianth are deep orange-red, lightening in color at the stem-like bases and profusely spotted with dark brown; the outside of the perianth is dull whitish green. The leaves are lanceolate, sharply pointed at each end and whorled about the stem in groups of from three to seven. Its name is rather misleading for, while it is sometimes found in woods, it will be found blooming most profusely in sandy or brush-covered land. Blooms in July and August in sandy soil from N. E. to Mich. and southward.
Turk’s-cap Lily (Lilium superbum) is a most beautiful plant, prolific in bloom almost beyond belief, sometimes containing from thirty to forty brilliant orange flowers. The bright sepals are always reflexed, sometimes so much so that they remind one of a coiled spring. One has but to touch the large pendent anthers to get a practical demonstration of how the pollen is attached to the body of a bee and carried to another flower, there to be deposited on the sticky stigma of the mature style. Naturally a species so prolific of flower and so capable of being cross-fertilized by foreign agency is in little danger of having its numbers lessened.
The flowers, nodding at the top of a stem ranging from 2 to 7 feet in height, have a six-parted perianth, orange-red, thickly spotted with purplish brown. The lanceolate leaves are crowded along the upper stem and whorled about its lower portion. Blooms abundantly in rich soil, during July and August, from N. B. to Minn. and southward.
Field, Wild, Meadow, Yellow or Canada Lily (Lilium canadense) is one of the most abundant of the genus. Imagine a rich meadow, surrounded by deep green woods and covered with thousands of these lilies, their heads hanging and nodding invitingly and seeming fairly to tinkle in the bright sunlight. On the whole, this flower may be regarded as more graceful in form than is the Turk’s-cap, but it cannot compare with the latter flower for beauty of coloring. The regular whorled leaves and graceful bending peduncles supporting the hanging “bells” make a conventional design that often appeals to the artistic eye.
The flowers are in terminal clusters of one to twelve blossoms, nodding on long peduncles from the summit of tall leafy stems. The leaves are lanceolate, arranged about the stem at intervals in whorls of three to eight. Flowers during June and July in moist meadows from Quebec to Minn. and southward to Ga. and Mo.
(A) Dog-tooth Violet; Yellow Adder’s Tongue (Erythronium americanum). These flowers are familiar and welcome ones to all who wander beside woodland brooks in the spring. The name “Violet” is of course a misnomer. It is often locally known as the “Trout Lily” or the “Fawn Lily,” both of which names are far more appropriate than those given it generally.
The single 6-parted flower grows at the top of a scape from 5 to 10 in. high. Two elliptical-lanceolate leaves clasp the scape at its base, near the scaly bulb; they are pale green, mottled with purple and white. This species blooms in April and May in moist woods or swamps, from N. B. to Minn. and southward.
(B) Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) is a beautiful species, its leaves resembling those of the Lily-of-the-Valley. The three to six pendulous, bell-shaped flowers are cream-colored within and greenish outside. Three large, oblong, pointed leaves clasp the flower scape at its base. The plant is about 6 to 16 in. high; it flowers during June in damp woods from Labrador to Man. and southward.
Wild Spikenard (Smilacina racemosa) is quite an imposing plant, with its long, curving, zigzag stem, its many light-green, deeply ribbed leaves and its feathery terminal flower clusters.
The white flowers are tiny but perfect, with a 6-parted perianth, six slender stamens, and a short, thick style. The stem is rather angular and attains a length of from 1 to 3 feet; alternating along it are the large, oval, sharply pointed leaves, with parallel ribs and wavy edge. The perennial rootstalk is thick and fleshy. Spikenard is quite abundant in moist rich, uncleared ground, flowering in May and June, from Me. to Minn. southward.
False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina stellata) bears some resemblance to the last species, but the flowers are much larger and few in number, usually only six or eight terminating the zigzag stem. The leaves are broader at the bases and slightly clasp the stem, whereas those of the last species have very short stems. It grows commonly, but not as much so as the last, on moist banks and in meadows, from Me. to Minn. and southward.
(A) Canada Mayflower; False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum canadense) is a very abundant woodland plant, growing in colonies, thousands of them sometimes carpeting pine woods with their dark-green glossy leaves. The two, or three broad, ovate-lanceolate, shiny green leaves are rather heart-shaped at the base, seated on the stem or very nearly so. The flower perianth has four divisions. After the flowering season both of these plants have berries; at first a creamy white, spotted with brown, and later turning to a dull ruby-red.
(B) Three-leaved False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina trifolia), the smallest member of the genus Smilacina is found rather commonly in bogs and wet woods. The stem, straight and slender, from 2 to 6 in. high, usually has three leaves, shining green, oblong-pointed, and sheathing at the base, arranged at regular intervals along it. The flowers are white, few in number, on short peduncles in an open raceme and have six petals. It is found from Labrador to Manitoba and southward to N. J. and Mo., flowering during May and June.
Purple Twisted-stalk (Streptopus roseus) has, as would be judged from its name, a very angular or twisted stem. At each angle or joint appears an ovate-lanceolate, cordately ribbed, shining green leaf, seated on the stem. From the axils of the terminal leaves appear small flowers on slender, thread-like peduncles; these flowers are sometimes single or, again, in pairs; they have a bell-shaped base and the perianth is divided into six lanceolate, spreading dull purple sepals. The stem, which is rather sparingly bristly hairy, reaches heights of 1 to 2½ feet. This rosy species blooms in May and June in cold moist woods from Newfoundland to Manitoba and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.
Common Twisted-stalk (Streptopus amplexifolius) is similar but has greenish-white flowers, the six sepals of which are very strongly reflexed. The plant is somewhat larger, the smooth stem being from 2 to 3 feet in length. It is found throughout northern United States and the southern half of Canada.
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) has small greenish, bell-shaped flowers about one half inch in length, hanging in pairs on slender peduncles from the axils of the leaves. The stem is 1 to 2 feet in height. The oblong-lanceolate leaves alternate along, and are partly seated on, the stem; deep green above and glaucous or whitish below. Very common in woods from N. B. to Ont. and southward, flowering from April to June.
These plants receive their name from the thick, fleshy, and knotted rootstalks. They are perennials, each year throwing up new stalks; after flowering these wither away and leave pronounced scars on the roots. These scars suggested the name of Solomon’s Seal and the number of them probably accurately denotes the ages of the plants. Both the large and the small species grow in the same localities. They can readily be distinguished by comparison, for commutatum is always larger in all its parts; while it may be but a foot and a half tall it will be stouter and have comparatively larger flowers than its relative. Often it assumes truly gigantic size and may tower above a tall man’s head.
(A) Common Green Brier (Smilax rotundifolia) is a woody climbing vine with scattered sharp prickles; it climbs by means of pairs of tendrils from the axils of the leaves. Leaves alternating along the stem; round-ovate, sharply pointed at the tip and somewhat heart-shaped at the base. Flowers, few on slender peduncles from the angles of the leaves; perianth bell-shaped, with six short, spreading lobes, pale greenish in color. Common in moist thickets from N. S. to Minn. and southward, flowering in May and June.
(B) Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis). As a garden flower, this species is probably familiar to nearly everyone. While, as a native, it is only found in some of the southeastern mountain ranges, it is sometimes found in the North as an escape from cultivation. It is a delicately beautiful species, very rich in fragrance and very hardy. The bell-shaped, white flowers grow in a one-sided raceme at the top of a scape, the base of which is sheathed by the two large, broad, oblong-pointed, parallel-veined leaves. It flowers in May and June in the mountains from Va. to S. C.
Indian Cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana) is a common woodland plant, but the flowers are so inconspicuous that they are often overlooked; in fact they are often nodding below the upper leaves so as to be invisible. The stem is tall and slender, ranging from 1 to 3 feet in height; it rises from a thick horizontal rootstalk, having a taste similar to that of the cucumber. A whorl of from five to nine ovate-lanceolate, pointed leaves is located midway on the stem; at the top, three smaller but similarly shaped leaves radiate. Above these, or it may be below, because of the curving pedicels, are three flowers. They are pale greenish-yellow; the three sepals and three petals composing the perianth are very much reflexed or curled; they have six stamens each, and one style dividing into three purplish-brown, recurved stigmas.
It is said that the Indians formerly used the roots for food; at the present time they are used for various medicinal preparations. Cucumber-root is found from N. B. to Manitoba and southward to the Gulf, flowering in rich woods during May and June.