Joe Cook and Monica Sheppard
Some reference books place the smooth Solomon’s seals (Polygonatum biflorum) within the green flower category, some within the yellow, and others among the plants that have white flowers. Truth be told, the Solomon’s seals belong in all three groupings. As the flowers emerge they definitely have a greenish tinge to them, which becomes a greenish yellow as they develop. At maturity, the color will have faded to a greenish white.
Because these plants cannot tolerate direct sunlight, you will not encounter the Solomon’s seals until the tree canopy has begun to leaf out. Once they do begin to grow, however, these stately plants are hard to miss, as they often lean over hiking trails on long, gracefully arching stems.
Of the several species found in the Blue Ridge Mountains, possibly the most common is the smooth Solomon’s seal. A subspecies, great Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum commutatum; some sources list it as Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum) is the largest, with the longest leaves, longest stem, and the most numerous flowers dangling from the leaf axils. The hairy Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum pubescens) can be distinguished by the hairs which grow on the underside of the leaves along the veins.
There is much debate about the derivation of the common name. The most widely accepted story suggests that the scar, which appears when the leaf stalks break off of the underground rootstock at the end of the growing season, resembles King Solomon’s official seal. Because these scars are produced annually, it is possible to count them to determine the age of an individual plant, some of which have been found to be more than half a century old!
Flower Fast Facts
FLOWER: The half-inch greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers of the smooth Solomon’s seal droop from the leaf axils in (usually) pairs.
LEAVES AND STEM: The sessile (meaning they have no stalk) leaves are arranged alternately on the 1-to 3-foot arching stem.
BLOOM SEASON: May to June
About This Series
“Mountain Wildflowers” features a wildflower from the Blue Ridge region each month from March to October. Leonard M. Adkins has written for Blue Ridge Country for more than two decades and is the author of 20 books about travel, hiking and nature. His Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, which received the prestigious National Outdoor Book Award, provides the photographs and some of the information he writes about in each “Mountain Wildflowers.” It and his other works may be obtained through his website.