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Lily of the Valley / Đurdica

Convallaria majalis

Description:

It is a poisonous woodland flowering plant, possibly the only species in the genus Convallaria. It 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.

Habitat:

It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe and in the southern Appalachian Mountains (US).

Notes:

The odor of lily of the valley, specifically the ligand bourgeonal, attracts mammal sperm in a dramatic manner. 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. The name "lily of the valley" is used in some English translations of the Bible in Song of Songs 2:1, but the Hebrew phrase "shoshannat-ha-amaqim" in the original text (literally "lily of the valleys") doesn't refer to this plant. It's possible, though, that the biblical phrase may have had something to do with the origin or development of the modern plant-name. It is a symbol of humility in religious painting. Lily of the valley is considered the sign of Christ's second coming. The power of men to envision a better world was also attributed to the lily of the valley.

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5 Comments

Ursula
Ursula 10 years ago

What I know of this plant is, that you can quickly mix it up with wild garlic (when you don't see the flowers yet), so you have to be real carefull when picking up those! And we learned in school of a novel about this flower called "Solzice" and that mostly this plant is connected with mother Mary. Haven't heard of that fact about medieval decorations - interesting! And yes, I think so too, it is important to stress out some facts that play crucial role in a culture! And yes, local plants do rock! :)

injica
injica 10 years ago

Like to keep it well explained when it comes to a certain plant that is very common and plays a crucial role in the culture. Some of the medieval decorations, for example on crowns and similar had also this motive :) Local plants rocks :)

Ursula
Ursula 10 years ago

;) nice description under notes section!

injica
injica 10 years ago

Tnx, I though is toxic and that's it :) good to get more information about it

Ursula
Ursula 10 years ago

"šmarnica" can be used as medicinal plant under control of a specialist/doctor. It can increase the contraction of cardiac muscle, and reduce the residual blood in the heart. Like all drugs with cardiac glycosides it is also toxic.

injica
Spotted by
injica

Zagreb, Croatia

Spotted on May 1, 2010
Submitted on Apr 1, 2013

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Reference

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