The Latin name for this woodland plant is Polygonatum biflorum, a member of the lily family. Its common name is Smooth Solomon's Seal. According to my wildflower Audubon Society field guide, it gets its name from the rootstalk which is jointed. When the leaf stalk breaks away from it, a distinctive scar results which is said to resemble the official seal of King Solomon. My field guide adds that "Indians and colonists used the starchy rhizomes as food."
This is one of the first wildflowers I spotted when we first moved here and began exploring the woods way back in the mid-1980's. In the past decade, it has reproduced itself, probably brought in with a transplant, in my terraced woodland garden that started out as a rock garden. There are at least a dozen there now, and I cherish them.
This is one of the first wildflowers I spotted when we first moved here and began exploring the woods way back in the mid-1980's. In the past decade, it has reproduced itself, probably brought in with a transplant, in my terraced woodland garden that started out as a rock garden. There are at least a dozen there now, and I cherish them.
