The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Maianthemum racemosum
Also called Solomon's plume, False Solomon's seal, Treacle-berry, False spikenard, Feathery False Solomon's Seal, Large False Solomon's Seal, Feathery False Lily Of The Vally
A woodland perennial native to North America, grown for its feathery white flower plumes and red late-summer berries. It thrives in moist, humus-rich soil in dappled or part shade.
Maianthemum racemosum, the treacleberry, feathery false lily of the valley, false Solomon's seal, Solomon's plume or false spikenard, is a species of flowering plant native to North America. It is a common, widespread plant with numerous common names and synonyms, known from every US state except Hawaii, and from every Canadian province and territory (except Nunavut and the Yukon), as well as from Mexico.
The plant, like the closely related Polygonatum (Solomon's seal), is suitable for cultivation in moist, humus-rich soil in a woodland setting or in dappled shade. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The species is widespread, found in all Canadian provinces and territories except the Yukon and Nunavut, all US states except Hawaii, and in Northern Mexico. Subsp. amplexicaule has been found in western Canada in Alta, B.C., N.W.T., Sask.; and in the western US in Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Oreg., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo. Also found in Mexico, in Chihuahua, Coahuila and Veracruz. The eastern subspecies (subsp. racemosum) is found in Canada from Manitoba east, and in all eastern US states. Both subspecies are found in the Dakotas and in Texas.
Because it resembles plants of the highly toxic Veratrum genus, this species should not be consumed unless identification is positive. The plant becomes fibrous and bitter after it completes flowering and seed-setting, but the tender young shoots can be stripped of their leaves, simmered in water and eaten. Their delicate flavor is somewhat reminiscent of asparagus. The ripe fruits are edible raw or cooked but may be poor in taste. They can be laxative if consumed in large quantities.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Maianthemum racemosum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
