LILIACEAE LILY FAMILY 
FALSE SPIKENARD 
Smilacina racemosa (L.) Desf. 
This species grows in rich woods from Nova Scotia to British 
Columbia and south to Georgia, Missouri and Arizona. In most 
parts of Illinois it is very common, and it blooms from May to 
July. 
It grows 1-3 feet high and usually the stem is 
somewhat downy. The leaves are 3-6 inches long, He 
acuminate and oblong-lanceolate or oval, sessile, the 
lower short petioled, 
finely hairy beneath 
and sometimes above, 
and with margins finely 
hairy. 
Numerous small 
white flowers are borne 
in a dense panicle 
which is 1-4 inches long 
and peduncled. The 6 
perianth segments are 
oblong, equal and 
separate, and at the 
base of each a stamen is 
attached by its slender 
filament. The berries are red 
speckled with purple. They 
are about one-quarter inch in 
diameter, have a strong pleas- 
ant odor, and are eaten in | 
great numbers by birds. 
_Another very dainty member of this 
family, which grows in _moist woods and 
blooms from May to July, is the Wild Lily of the Valley, Maianthemum 
canadense Desf. It is small, with a slender, often zigzag stem 2-7 
inches high, usually bearing only 2 alternate leaves. The leaves are 
lanceolate-ovate, heart shaped at the base, with a very narrow sinus, 
and are sessile or short petioled. The small white flowers are pro- 
duced ina terminal, rather dense and many flowered raceme. Unlike 
most Lilies, the perianth segments and the stamens are 4, and the 
ovary is 2-celled. The fruits are speckled pale-red berries about 
one-fifth of an inch in diameter. 
