For Your Garden - July 2019

Native plants provide beauty as well as food and shelter for wildlife. Native species are adapted to the Illinois climate. They require little or no watering and are resistant to drought, insects and most diseases. Because they are perennials, you can welcome their presence year after year.

false Solomon’s-seal (Smilacina racemosa)
Photo © River Valley Photographic Resources Ltd., rvprltd.com

False Solomon’s‐seal is a perennial plant that grows from thick, underground stems. Its aboveground stems are upright, unbranched, smooth or finely hairy and up to three feet tall. Leaves are alternate, lance‐shaped to oval and usually hairy on the lower surface. Each leaf may be six inches long and three inches wide. Flowers are arranged in a panicle at the end of the stem, each flower up to one‐sixth inch wide. These white flowers do not have distinguishable petals or sepals. The fruits are spherical, red berries that may be one‐fourth inch in diameter. False Solomon’s‐seal may be found statewide in Illinois. This plant grows in rich, moist woods, and flowers are produced from April through early June.

Classification and taxonomy are based on Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 2014. Vascular flora of Illinois: A field guide. Fourth edition. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 536 pp.

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae