Convallaria majalis - Lily of the Valley

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Asparagales - Family: Asparagaceae

In May and June several woodland locations in the Britain and Ireland have displays of Lily of the Valley (also written as Lily-of-the-Valley) - a truly magnificent but all too infrequent sight.

Description

These perennial monocots produce flowering stems typically 15 to 30 cm tall. The ovate-lanceolate hairless ribbed leaves are typically 10 to 20mm long and 3 to ,mm across. Anyone gatherimng Wild Garlic (Ramsons, Allium ursinum) leaves should beware of accidentally collecting leaves of Lily of the Valley, which are poisonous and can cause serious sickness if they are eaten.

Each stem produces a drooping inflorescence of typically 5 to 15 bell-like white flowers. The flowers are noted for their sweet and pleasant scent.

Habitat

Most often seen in woodlands, particularly where broadleaf trees allow plenty of light to reach the forest floor, Lily-of-the-Valley can also be found in shaded hedgerows.

Blooming times

Lily of the Valley can be seen in bloom from late April to late June, with the most spectacular displays usually occurring in May.

Distribution

Lily of the Valley can be found throughout Britain and Ireland, but it is unccommon to rare in central and northern Scotland. This lovely spring wildflower also occurs in most of northern and central mainland Europe.

The Lily of the Valley flowers shown on this page were photographed on a woodland edge in Slovenia.

---

---

Please Help Us: If you have found this information interesting and useful, please consider helping to keep First Nature online by making a small donation towards the web hosting and internet costs.

Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.