Taxonomy
Family: Liliaceae
Habitat
Mesic woods and thickets.
Associates
Distribution
Nova Scotia west to Manitoba, south to MD, IN, MN, and to northern GA in mountains.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial from a jointed rhizome; stem slender, 50-90 cm; cauline bract papery, caducous; leaves narrowly elliptic to broadly oval, 4-12 cm long and 1-6 cm wide, narrow below to a short petiole, glabrous above, glaucous and hairy on the smaller veins beneath, with 3-9 prominent veins; peduncles slender, sharply deflexed, 1-2(-4)-flowered; pedicels usually shorter than the peduncle; flowers 10-13 mm, yellow-green.
Notes
Flowers mid April to mid June
Wetland indicator: UPL
Polygonatum biflorum is similar but more stout, often taller, and with leaves that are glabrous.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Michael Hough © 2018 |