OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maianthemum racemosum   FAMILY Ruscaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum   FAMILY Liliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Maianthemum racemosum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum

INCLUDED WITHIN Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)

Maianthemum racemosum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-06-001:

Smilacina racemosa   FAMILY Liliaceae

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Vagnera australis

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Vagnera racemosa

 

COMMON NAME:
False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_vara3_001_lvd

        

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm090405_025

April    Walker County    GA

The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain

Leaf veins are more deeply impressed than those of Polygonatum. — Patrick McMillan


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Solomon's Plume, Solomon's Seal, Twisted Stalk, and two Bellworts

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm120414_964

April    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

On the left Solomon's Seal; on the right, False Solomon's Seal.

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm120421_150

April    Hendersonvlle County    NC

Holmes Educational Forest

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm120421_243

April    Hendersonvlle County    NC

Holmes Educational Forest

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm140418_174

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm180427_1549

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

Keith Bradley    kab_m_racemosum_03007

April        NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Inclusion of Smilacina in Maianthemum remains controversial and uncertain, per Weakley's Flora (2020).

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm0305zc_05

May    Buncombe County    NC

Botanical Gardens at Asheville

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm0405m_13

May    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Numerous flowers in a dense terminal panicle 2-6" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm090503_044

May    Polk County    NC

False Solomon's Seal in the upper half of the pic; "real" in the lower half.

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm100515_002

May    Henderson County    NC

Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District

The stem is conspicuously angled in a zigzag fashion, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_m_racemosum_ra_1

May        

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_m_racemosum_ra_2

May        

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_m_racemosum_ra_e

May        

Flowers have six tepals and six stamens.

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

JK Marlow    jkm0308o_35

August    Greenville County    SC

Just before maturity the berry is green finely dotted with red, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal, Eastern Solomon's Plume, May-plume

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmmracemosum_nantahala

Month Unknown        NC

Nantahala National Forest

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maianthemum racemosum   FAMILY Ruscaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum   FAMILY Liliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Maianthemum racemosum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum

INCLUDED WITHIN Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)
Maianthemum racemosum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-06-001:
Smilacina racemosa   FAMILY Liliaceae

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera australis

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vagnera racemosa

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1393

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Moist to dry forests, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain) (rare in GA Coastal Plain)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
3-merous
6 tepals
6 stamens

Flowers in a terminal panicle

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red at maturity (variously mottled when immature)
Berry

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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