Lily of the valley

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Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis),<ref name="PlantAtlas">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Streeter">Template:Cite book</ref> also written lily of the valley,<ref name=IUCN/> is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native in Europe and western and northern Asia.<ref name="POWO">Template:Cite web</ref>

The former varieties Convallaria majalis var. montana (native to eastern North America) and Convallaria majalis var. keiskei (native to eastern Asia), are now split as the separate species Convallaria pseudomajalis,<ref name="POWO2">Template:Cite web</ref> and Convallaria keiskei,<ref name="POWO3">Template:Cite web</ref> respectively.

Due to the concentration of cardiac glycosides (cardenolides), it is highly poisonous if consumed by humans or other animals.<ref name="csu">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="uc">Template:Cite web</ref>

Other names include May bells, Our Lady's tears, and Mary's tears. Its French name, Template:Lang, sometimes appears in the names of perfumes imitating the flower's scent. In pre-modern England, the plant was known as glovewort (as it was a wort used to create a salve for sore hands), or Apollinaris (according to a legend that it was discovered by Apollo).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Description

Foliage and flowers

Convallaria majalis is a herbaceous perennial plant that often forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer.<ref name="efloras convallaria" /> These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground. The stems grow to Template:Cvt tall, with two (rarely three) leaves Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad.<ref name="Streeter"/><ref name="Blamey">Template:Cite book</ref> The flowering stems have a one-sided raceme of six to twelve pendulous flowers on the upper part of the stem.<ref name="Streeter"/>

The flowers have six white tepals (rarely pink), fused at the base to form a bell shape and with reflexed tips, Template:Convert diameter, and are sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, typically May to June in Britain;<ref name="Streeter"/><ref name="Blamey"/> in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it can be as early as March.Template:Cn The fruit is a small orange-red berry Template:Convert diameter that contains an average of 3.9Template:Sfn large whitish to brownish seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead Template:Convert wide. The fruit persists for an average of 47.5 days. The fruit averages 85.8% water, and their dry weight includes 14.6% carbohydrates and 1.3% lipids.Template:Sfn Plants are self-incompatible, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed.

Taxonomy

Natural habitat in central Germany

In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Convallarioideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae<ref>Template:Citation</ref>). It was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae.

In the past, it was widely treated in three varieties,<ref name="efloras convallaria">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Weakley">Template:Cite book (Download page)</ref> but these are now separated out as distinct species.<ref name="POWOgenus">Template:Cite web</ref>

C. transcaucasica is recognised as a distinct species, subspecies, or variety of C. majalis by some authorities, but is not generally accepted as distinct.<ref name="POWO"/> The species formerly called Convallaria japonica is now classified as Ophiopogon japonicus.<ref name="Plantfinder"/>

Distribution

Convallaria majalis is a native of Europe, where it largely avoids the Mediterranean margin,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is also absent from Ireland as a native species, though is naturalised there.<ref name="PlantAtlas"/>

Like many perennial flowering plants, C. majalis exhibits dual reproductive modes by producing offspring asexually by vegetative means and sexually by seed, produced via the fusion of gametes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Ecology

Convallaria majalis is a plant of partial shade, and a mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It grows widely in both acidic soils and alkaline soils, liking soils that are silty or sandy, but also locally in wet fen soils,<ref name="PlantAtlas"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with preferably a plentiful amount of humus. It is a Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that occurs from sea level up to Template:Cvt altitude in Great Britain,<ref name="PlantAtlas"/> and in central and southern Europe up to Template:Cvt altitude.<ref name="Blamey"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Convallaria majalis is used as a food plant by the larvae of some moth and butterfly (Lepidoptera) species including the grey chi. Adults and larvae of the leaf beetle Lilioceris merdigera are also able to tolerate the cardenolides and thus feed on the leaves.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The fruit is sometimes removed by graniviorous rodents, consuming most of the seeds but only a small proportion of the fruit pulp. Their hoarding of both seeds and whole fruit has been observed. As some seeds inevitably escape predation, they also act as seed dispersers.Template:Sfn

Cultivars

Convallaria majalis is widely grown in gardens for its scented flowers and ground-covering abilities in shady locations. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref name = RHSAG>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In favourable conditions it can form large colonies.

Various kinds and cultivars are grown, including those with double flowers, rose-coloured flowers, variegated foliage and ones that grow larger than the typical species.<ref name="Plantfinder"/>

  • C. majalis 'Albostriata' has white-striped leaves
  • C. majalis 'Green Tapestry', 'Haldon Grange', 'Hardwick Hall', 'Hofheim', 'Marcel', 'Variegata' and 'Vic Pawlowski's Gold' are other variegated cultivars<ref name="Plantfinder"/>
  • C. majalis 'Berlin Giant' and C. majalis 'Géant de Fortin' (syn. 'Fortin's Giant') are larger-growing cultivars<ref name="Plantfinder"/>
  • C. majalis 'Flore Pleno' has double flowers.<ref name="Plantfinder"/>
  • C. majalis 'Rosea' sometimes found under the name C. majalis var. rosea, has pink flowers.<ref name="Plantfinder"/>
  • A variegated cultivar early in spring
    A variegated cultivar early in spring
  • Double-flowered 'Flore Pleno'
    Double-flowered 'Flore Pleno'
  • 'Rosea'
    'Rosea'

Traditionally, Convallaria majalis has been grown in pots and winter forced to provide flowers during the winter months, both in potted plants and as cut flowers.<ref name="Journal of horticulture and practical gardening">Template:Cite book</ref>

Chemistry

General chemical make-up of a cardiac glycoside

Roughly 38 different cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) – which are highly toxic if consumed by humans or animals – occur in the plant, including:<ref name=csu/><ref name=uc/><ref name="roberts">Template:Cite journal</ref>

  • convallarin
  • convallamarin
  • convallatoxin
  • convallotoxoloside
  • convallosid
  • neoconvalloside
  • glucoconvalloside
  • majaloside
  • convallatoxon
  • corglycon
  • cannogenol-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside
  • cannogenol-3-O-β-D-allomethyloside
  • cannogenol-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-allosido-β-D-glucoside,
  • cannogenol-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-allosido-α-L-rhamnoside,
  • strophanthidin-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-allosido-α-L-rhamnoside,
  • strophanthidin-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-allosido-α-L-arabinoside,
  • strophanthidin-3-O-α-L-rhamnosido-2-β-D-glucoside,
  • sarmentogenin-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-allosido-α-L-rhamnoside
  • sarmentogenin-3-O-6-deoxy-β-D-guloside
  • 19-hydroxy-sarmentogenin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside,
  • 19-hydroxy-sarmentogenin
  • arabinosido-6-deoxyallose
  • lokundjoside

The scent of lily of the valley, specifically the ligand bourgeonal, was once thought to attract mammalian sperm.<ref>Template:Cite journal

Toxicology

All parts of the plant are potentially poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children.<ref name=csu/><ref name=uc/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> If ingested, the plant can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and irregular heartbeats.<ref name=roberts/>

Uses

Perfume

In 1956, the French firm Dior produced a fragrance simulating lily-of-the-valley, which was Christian Dior's favourite flower. Diorissimo was designed by Edmond Roudnitska.<ref name=vogue>"Lily of the Valley Perfumes". Vogue slideshow.</ref> Although it has since been reformulated, it is considered a classic.<ref name=vogue/><ref>Patty. "Best Lily of the Valley Perfume – Muguet Guide". Perfume Posse, 8 April 2013.</ref> Because no natural aromatic extract can be produced from lily of the valley, its scent must be recreated synthetically; while Diorissimo originally achieved this with hydroxycitronellal, the European Chemicals Agency now considers it a skin sensitizer and its use has been restricted.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other perfumes imitating or based on the flower include Henri Robert's Muguet de Bois (1936),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Penhaligon's Lily of the Valley (1976),<ref name=vogue/> and Olivia Giacobetti's En Passant (2000).<ref name=vogue/>

Weddings and other celebrations

Lily of the valley has been used in weddings<ref name="trailend1"/> and off-season can be very expensive.<ref name="aboutflowersblog1">Template:Cite web</ref> Lily of the valley was featured in the bridal bouquet at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.<ref name="aboutflowersblog1"/><ref>Balcony kisses seal royal wedding</ref> Lily of the valley was also the flower chosen by Princess Grace of Monaco to be featured in her bridal bouquet.Template:Citation needed

At the beginning of the 20th century, it became tradition in France to sell lily of the valley on international Labour Day, 1 May (also called Template:Lang or Lily of the Valley Day) by labour organisations and private persons without paying sales tax (on that day only) as a symbol of spring.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lily of the valley is worn in Helston (Cornwall, UK) on Flora Day (8 May each year, see Furry Dance) representing the coming of "the May-o" and the summer. There is also a song sung in pubs around Cornwall (and on Flora Day in Cadgwith, near Helston) called "Lily of the Valley"; the song, strangely, came from the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Folk medicine

The plant has been used in folk medicine for centuries.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There is a reference to "Lilly of the valley water" in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped, where it is said to be "good against the Gout", and that it "comforts the heart and strengthens the memory" and "restores speech to those that have the dumb palsey".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There is no scientific evidence that lily of the valley has any effective medicinal uses for treating human diseases.<ref name=csu/><ref name=roberts/>

Cultural symbolism

A Royal Vale cup and saucer decorated with a Lily of the valley motif

The lily of the valley was the national flower of Yugoslavia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and it also became the national flower of Finland in 1967.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the "language of flowers", the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness.<ref name="trailend1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Myths and religion

Template:Anchor The name "lily of the valley", like its correspondences in some other European languages, is apparently a reference to the phrase "lily of the valleys" (sometimes also translated as "lily of the valley") in Song of Songs 2:1 (Template:Lang).<ref>See also Shoshanat HaAmakim village</ref> European herbalists' use of the phrase to refer to a specific plant species seems to have appeared relatively late in the 16th<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or 15th century.<ref name=keil>Keil, Gundolf. "Es hat vnser libe fraw gesprochen in dem puch der libe: ‚Ich pin ein plvm des tals vnd auch des grvnen waldes'": Die Einführung der Convallarin-Glykoside als Hinweis auf mährisch-schlesische Provenienz. In: Iva Kratochvilová, Lenka Vaňková (Hrsg.): Germanistik im Spiegel der Generationen. Festschrift Zdeněk Masařík. Opava/ Ostrava 2004, S. 72–132.</ref> The Neo-Latin term convallaria (coined by Carl Linnaeus) and, for example, the Swedish name Template:Linktext derives from the corresponding phrase lilium convallium in the Vulgate.

In culture

See also

References

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Bibliography

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