_Smilacina racemosa_
_Flowers_--White or greenish, small, slightly fragrant, in a densely
flowered terminal raceme. Perianth of 6 separate, spreading segments; 6
stamens; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Simple, somewhat angled, 1 to 3 ft. high,
scaly below, leafy, and sometimes finely hairy above. _Leaves:_
Alternate and seated along stem, oblong, lance-shaped, 3 to 6 in. long,
finely hairy beneath. _Rootstock:_ Thick, fleshy. _Fruit:_ A cluster of
aromatic, round, pale red speckled berries.
_Preferred Habitat_--Moist woods, thickets, hillsides.
_Flowering Season_--May-July.
_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia; westward to Arizona and
British Columbia.
As if to offer opportunities for comparison to the confused novice, the
true Solomon’s Seal and the so-called false species--quite as honest a
plant--usually grow near each other. Grace of line, rather than beauty
of blossom, gives them both their chief charm. But the feathery plume of
greenish-white blossoms that crowns the false Solomon’s Seal’s somewhat
zig-zagged stem is very different from the small, greenish, bell-shaped
flowers, usually nodding in pairs along the stem, under the leaves, from
the axils of the true Solomon’s Seal. Later in summer, when hungry birds
wander through the woods with increased families, the Wild Spikenard
offers them branching clusters of pale red speckled berries, whereas the
former plant feasts them with blue-black fruit.