smooth Solomon's seal
smooth Solomon's seal
Polygonatum biflorum
Also known as: Solomon's seal · King Solomon's-seal · great Solomon’s-seal · Southwest Solomon's-seal · Honey-flowered Solomon's Seal
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Perennial
Size
Medium
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate forest
Range
North America
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Toxins
Status
Common

About

A woodland perennial with an arching, unbranched stem lined with paired leaves and small bell-shaped greenish-yellow flowers dangling beneath each leaf axil. Its knobby underground rhizome bears round scars from each year's dead stem, resembling the wax seals once used on letters and giving the plant its name.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Liliopsida
Order
Asparagales
Family
Asparagaceae
Genus
Polygonatum
Species
Polygonatum biflorum