Solomon's Seal (Smilacina racemosa)

This text was originally published in Coastal Grower (formerly The Island Grower) in Victoria, British Columbia. For subscription information, please call Susanne Steele at the Coastal Grower at 250-478-0825.

The Lily Family (Liliaceae) is well known as a source of beautiful garden flowers such as true lilies (Lilium), fritillaries (Fritillaria) and fawn lilies (Erythronium). This family also includes less known woodland perennials which are important species of our northern forests and do well in the garden. Among these false Solomon's seal, also called false spikenard, is a widespread and attractive British Columbia species.

False Solomon's seal grows as a medium to tall perennial, ranging from 0.3 to 1.0 m (12-40") tall. Beneath the ground hides a fleshy root-stem (rhizome) from the tips of which arise graceful, unbranched arching stems. You will often find several of these stems nodding in a group. Broad ellipse-shaped leaves 7.5 to 20 cm (3-8") long alternate along the stem. Long prominent veins extend from leaf tip to the clasping leaf base. Even without flowers this species catches the eye with its luxuriant form.

Hundreds of scented creamy white flowers cluster in a branched pyramidal head at the end of the stalk. Botanists call this type of flower head a raceme, hence the species name racemosa. Similar sepals and petals surrounds six stamens which have very broad petal-like filaments. A fat pistil with a short style and small stigma occupy the centre of the bloom. The flower head of closely-related star-flowered Solomon's seal (Smilacina stellata) displays only a handful loosely spaced flowers. The mature fruit consists of a greenish to red berry containing several seeds. Flowers appear in late spring or early summer.

The natural habitat includes moist woods, meadows and clearings usually in rich soil. You may often find it nodding upon a stream bank or thriving on floodplains. The native range of False Solomon's seal includes the southern two thirds of British Columbia, from sea level to subalpine elevations. Along the west coast the range extends from Alaska to California. After skipping the prairies and plains the species re-appears in eastern North America.

Native peoples used False Solomon's seal for food and medicine. Thompson peoples gathered young leafy shoots and ate them like asparagus, or cooked them with meat as a flavouring. You must know your plants very well so as not to confuse Smilacina shoots with those of deadly false hellebore (Veratrum viride). A drink made from the boiled rhizomes was used as a stomach medicine, and for rheumatism, heart trouble and ulcerated throat.

False Solomon's seal is a relatively easy subject for the garden. Choose a woodland or partially open setting where the soil remains relatively moist throughout the year. Sun-baked or shaded dry sites do not suit this group of plants. Enrich the soil with lots of compost, because this species normally roots in forest humus. Buy potted plants from specialist nurseries or remove small rhizome fragments from a large cultivated clump. Plant so that the rhizome rests about 2.5 cm (1") below the surface. Late fall or early spring before shoots emerge are probably the best times to divide and plant rhizomes.

You can try growing these plants from seeds too. Extract fresh seed from the red berries and sow immediately just below the surface of a moist sandy organic soil. Put the pot or box away in a shady moist spot and leave over the winter. The first year the plant puts its effort into making a root system and it may not be until the second spring when green shoots emerge. You will have to wait 4-5 years before flowers appear.

Mulch the rhizomes well to keep them moist during the summer. False Solomon's seal should grow well under a deciduous canopy, near the shaded back edge of a perennial bed and at the edge of a moist conifer stand. The species seems to do best with its feet somewhat shaded, but its head in full sun.

If you're thinking of making a woodland garden, then false Solomon's seal is an ideal subject. With its graceful form and showy flowers and fruit few native perennials can better it.

For more information on native species contact Richard Hebda at the Royal British Columbia Museum.