GENUS 8. 



LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY FAMILY. 



8. POLYGONATUM [Tourn.] Mill. Card. Diet. Abr. Ed. 4. 1754. 

 [SALOMdNiA Heist.; Fabr. Enum. PI. Hort. Helmst. 20. 1759.] 



Glabrous or pubescent herbs, with thick, horizontal jointed and scarred rootstocks, 

 simple arching or erect stems, scaly below, leafy above, the leaves ovate or lanceolate, sessile 

 and alternate in our species (opposite or verticillate in some exotic ones). Flowers greenish 

 or pinkish, axillary, drooping, peduncled, solitary or 2-10 in an umbel, the pedicels jointed 

 at the base of the flower. Perianth tubular or oblong-cylindric or somewhat expanded above 

 the base, 6-lobed, the short lobes not spreading. Stamens 6, included; filaments adnate to 

 the perianth for half their length or more; anthers sagittate, introrse. Ovary 3-celled; ovules 

 2-6 in each cavity; style slender; stigmas small, capitate or slightly 3-lobed. Berry globular, 

 pulpy, dark blue or nearly black, with a bloom, in our species. [Genus dedicated to 

 Salomon.] 



About 20 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Type species : Convallaria polygonatum L,. 



1. P. biftorum. 



2. P. commutatum. 



Leaves pubescent beneath ; filaments filiform, roughened. 



Plant glabrous throughout ; filaments smooth, somewhat flattened. 



i. Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) Ell. 

 Hairy Solomon's Seal. Fig. 1295. 



Convallaria bi flora Walt. Fl. Car. 122. 1788. 



Polygonatum biflorum Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. i : 

 393- 1817. 



Salomonia biflora Farwell, Rep. Com. Parks De- 

 troit ii : 53. 1900. 



Stem slender, glabrous, often zigzag above, 

 8'-3 high. Leaves lanceolate, oval to ovate, 

 2'-4' long, '-2' wide, acute or acuminate at 

 the apex, narrowed or sometimes obtuse at 

 the base, pubescent especially on the veins and 

 pale beneath, glabrous above, the upper com- 

 monly narrower than the lower; peduncles 

 i-4-flowered (often 2-flowered), glabrous; 

 perianth 4"-6" long, about ii" thick, filaments 

 filiform, adnate to the perianth for about 

 three-fourths its length, papillose-roughened; 

 berry 3"~4" in diameter. 



In woods and thickets, New Brunswick to 

 Ontario and Michigan, south to Florida, West 

 Virginia and Tennessee. Recorded from Kansas 

 and Texas. Sealwort. Dwarf Solomon's-seal. 

 Conquer-john. April-July. 



2. Polygonatum commutatum (R. &S.) 



Dietr. Smooth Solomon's Seal. 



Fig. 1296. 



Convallaria commutata R. & S. Syst. 7: 1671. 



1830. 

 Polygonatum commutatum Dietr. ; Otto & Dietr. 



Gartenz. 3: 223. 1835. 

 Polygonatum giganteum Dietr. ; Otto & Dietr. 



Gartenz. 3: 222. 1835. 

 Salomonia commutata Britton, Man. 273. 1901. 



Glabrous throughout, stem stout or slender, 

 i-8 high. Leaves lanceolate, oval or ovate, 

 ii'-6' long, 3'-4' wide, rather darker green 

 above than beneath, acute, acuminate or blunt 

 at the apex, narrowed, rounded or somewhat 

 clasping at the base, the upper often narrower 

 than the lower; peduncles i-8-flowered, gla- 

 brous; perianth 6"-io" long, i$"-2" thick; 

 filaments somewhat flattened, smooth, adnate 

 to the perianth for half its length or more; 

 berry 4"-6" in diameter. 



In moist woods and along streams, rarely in 

 dry soil, Rhode Island to New Hampshire, On- 

 tario and Manitoba, south to Georgia, Louisiana, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Sealwort. 

 Giant Solomon's-seal. May-July. 



