Starry False Solomon's Seal

(Maianthemum stellatum)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, West National Technical Center.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum (L.) Link)

Identification: Flowers white, star-shaped, and arranged in a loose terminal panicle. Berries black. Leaves elongate with parallel venation and arranged alternatively along the zig-zag stem. Base of leaf clasps the stem. Plant 8 to 20 inches in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America except for the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Starry False Solomon's Seal is found in open wet places and is typically found on or near sand dunes.

Flowering period: May to August.

Similar Species: Starry False Solomon's Seal is most likely to be confused with False Solomon's Seal. Starry False Solomon's Seal is a smaller plant and the flowers are larger and fewer. The leaves of Starry False Solomon's Seal are somewhat more narrow and the base of the leaf clasps the stem. The berries of Starry False Solomon's Seal are black, not pink-red. The flowers of the true Solomon's Seal arise from the leaf axils and are not arranged in a terminal panicle.

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