Does this plant seem familiar? Of course you know the Lily of the Valley. My favorite flower, due to its wildness. delicateness and sweet scent.
But did you know that these petite and lovely flowers change into green spheres? And later into orange/red berries? Well I didn’t, but the proof is in a pot in my garden.
Berries of the Valley - but remember, do not eat them: they are very poisonous!
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Convallaria majalis is a poisonous woodland flowering plant native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe and in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States.
The flower is also known as ‘Our Lady’s tears’ or ‘Mary’s tears’ from Christian legends that it sprang from the weeping of the Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus. Other etiologies its coming into being from Eve’s tears after she was driven with Adam from the Garden of Eden or from the blood shed by Saint Leonard of Noblac during his battles with a dragon.
Of course I like the last explanation best!
C. majalis is a herbaceous perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer, these upright dormant stems are often called pips. These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground, often forming extensive colonies. The stems grow to 15–30 cm tall, with one or two leaves 10–25 cm long, flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5–15 flowers on the stem apex. The flowers are white tepals (rarely pink), bell-shaped, 5–10 mm diameter, and sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it is in early March. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1–3 mm wide. Plants are self-sterile, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed.


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Thanks for the warning, but I would never think of eating them
, and no I did not know that change into green spheres and red berries.. well I guess there are some silly souls that would put anything in their mouth that looks appealing
Sorry for my bad sense of humour. My favourite flower is wild cyclamen, its fragrance is far more delicate than in the lily of the valley
I have never smelled a cyclamen, wild or tame. Next time I’ll make sure to stick my nose in between the flowers, Paula
Tame don’t have any scent
, but the wild ones are delicious
. How are you Marion? I am so fatigued these days, that I can hardly do anything but work…. Sorry I am not very active reading your posts… I will make up for that later.
I do hope you are feeling better soon, Paula. Hang in there, the weekend is almost upon us *hugs*
Very interesting. I have made a mental note not to snack on any of those berries if I come across them!
That’s a good plan!
Well, I didn´t know about the berries. LOTV were my Nana´s favourite flowers – so everytime I see them I always think of her. Thanks for the wonderful memories.
You are most welcome, Marianne.
I love them too. Now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing the green berries, but no red ones.
When the berries turn orange or red in my back yard, I will take another photography, Christine