LILIACEAE LILY FAMILY 
GREAT SOLOMON’S SEAL 
Polygonatum commutatum (R. & S.) Dietr. 
The many joints of the rootstocks in this genus account for 
the name, from two Greek words meaning many, and knee. 
The Great Solomon’s Seal is found in rich woods and along 
the shaded banks of streams from New 
Hampshire to Manitoba and south to 
Georgia and Arizona. It is perennial 
by a thick underground stem which 
plainly shows the scars of each year’s 
aerial shoots. The smooth and graceful- 
ly curved, upright stem 
is 1-8 feet high. Leaves 
are perfectly smooth and 
somewhat darker green 
above than below. 
The flowers are 2-10 
in an umbel, or rarely 
1. The tubular perianth 
is greenish white and 
6-lobed at the end. The 
6 stamens, having an- 
thers arrow shaped at the base, are attached at the base of the 
perianth and grown fast to it for half their length or more. The 
pistil consists of a 3-celled ovary, a slender style and a slightly 
3-lobed stigma. The fruits are dark blue berries, very handsome 
in summer. 
The Small Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) EIL, 
is more common than the Great. It grows 8-36 inches high and is 
zigzag near the top. The leaves are pale and somewhat hairy beneath 
but smooth above. The 1-3 flowers on each peduncle andjthe berries 
are a little smaller than in the Great Solomon’s Seal, but are other - 
wise similar. 
The Rose into the Tulip’s ear 
Murmured: ‘‘The Lily is a sight; 
Don’t you believe she powders, dear 
To make herself so saintly white? 
She takes some trouble, it is plain, 
Her reputation to sustain.” 
Tell-tale—OLIVER HERFORD 
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