Smooth Solomon's Seal in Northwest Georgia, U.S.A.

Scientific name: Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) Ell.

Common name: Smooth Solomon's Seal

Family: Liliaceae

Flowering period: April - June

Habitat: Rich woods

Image: Image was taken at the Lavender Mountain, Berry College Campus, Mt. Berry, Floyd County, Georgia on June 11, 2007.

Comments:
Herbarium (MO) of Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, MO has collection of Polygonatum spp. Miller specimens collected by Alvin W. Chapaman without locality information. Two of those specimens were chosen by R. R. Gates to be Type specimens for Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) Ell. var. hebetifolium R.R. Gates.

In October 2007, one specimen of Polygonatum biflorum (Walter) Ell. (not one on a image) was collected at the Lavender Mountain, Berry College Campus and send to MO Herbarium to be compared with those two type specimens.

James C. Solomon, a Curator of the Herbarium Missouri Botanical Garden made the comparison and concluded that more research needs to be done before, and if, Lavender's specimen can be confirmed as Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) Ell. var. hebetifolium R. R. Gates.

Description:
Poligonatum biflorum (Walter) Ell.- " Stems 0.2-2 m long, 1.5-15 mm in diam. Sheathing bract more frequently absent than present. Leaves glabrous, 5-20 cm long, 1.5-9 cm wide. Inflorescens in most of the leaf axils except the 1st 2 or 3 (rarely 1) and the last 2-7, inflorescence 2-9 flowered, rarely 1-flowered. Peduncles to 6 cm long; pedicels 0-2 cm long. Perianth 1.3-2.2 cm long, lobes 3-5 mm long. Berry 0.8-1.2 cm in diam.(n=10, 20)." - Albert E. Radford, 1968.

Polygonatum biflorum (Walter) Ell. var. hebetifolium R. R. Gates -" Perennial herb; stem simple, 4 to 5 dm. high, glabrous; leaves alternate, subsecund, semiamplexicaul, oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 9 times as long as broad, 6.5 to 13 cm long, 0.8 to 2 cm. broad, the upper ones nearly as long as the lower ones, glabrous, with from 3 to 7 nerves of which only the middle one extends the full length of the leaf; cauline bract green, leaf-like, persistent; peduncles axillary, solitary, 12 to 35 mm. long, slender, glabrous, arcuate, 1- or 2-flowered; pedicles subequal, 3 to 15 mm long, shorter than the peduncles, glabrous; flowers large, 20 to 23 mm long, yellowish when dry; filaments minutely papillose, the free part shorter than the anthers" .- Ruth P. Ownbey, 1944.

Last updated on February 11, 2008.

ACNOWLEDGMENTS:
Dr James C. Solomon's help has been very much appreciated.

REFERENCES:
1. Gates R. R. "A Revision of the Genus Polygonatum in North America." Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 44.3 1917: 121-122., Plate 5.
2. Ownbey, Ruth P. "The Liliaceous Genus Polygonatum in North America." Annals of the Missouti Botanical Garden 31.4. 1944: 399-400.
3. Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill : U of North Carolina P. 1968: 297.
4. James C. Solomon, Curator of the Herbarium Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO Personal correspondence. October 2, 2007 and November 14, 2007.
5. Missouri Botanical Garden's VAST: (http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html). Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110
6. Image by Zvezdana Ukropina-Crawford
7. USDA, NRCS. 2007. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 11 November 2007). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Botanical explorations in Floyd County, Georgia, United States
Alvin W. Chapman's Collection from Floyd County, Georgia (1872-1891)