It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe, but is considered generally invasive in parts of North America.Convallaria majalis var. montana, also known as the American lily of the valley, is native to North America. Due to the concentration of cardiac glycosides...
It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe, but is considered generally invasive in parts of North America.Convallaria majalis var. montana, also known as the American lily of the valley, is native to North America. Due to the concentration of cardiac glycosides , it is highly poisonous if consumed by humans or other animals. Other names include May bells, Our Lady's tears, and Mary's tears. 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 five to fifteen flowers on the stem apex. The flowers have six white tepals , fused at the base to form a bell-shape, 5–10 mm diameter, and sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it is in early March. Plants are self-incompatible, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed. In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae . It was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae. There are three varieties that have sometimes been separated out as distinct species or subspecies by some botanists. Convallaria transcaucasica is recognised as a distinct species by some authorities, while the species formerly called Convallaria japonica is now classified as Ophiopogon japonicus. Convallaria majalis is a native of Europe, where it largely avoids the Mediterranean and Atlantic margins. There is, however, some debate as to the native status of the American variety. Like many perennial flowering plants, C. majalis exhibits dual reproductive modes by producing offspring asexually by vegetative means and by seed, produced via the fusion of gametes. Convallaria majalis is a plant of partial shade, and mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It is a Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that lives in mountains up to 1,500 m elevation. Convallaria majalis is used as a food plant by the larvae of some moth and butterfly 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. Convallaria majalis is widely grown in gardens for its scented flowers and ground-covering abilities in shady locations. In favourable conditions it can form large colonies. Various kinds and cultivars are grown, including those with double flowers, rose-colored flowers, variegated foliage and ones that grow larger than the typical species. Traditionally Convallaria majalis has been grown in pots and winter forced to provide flowers during the winter months, both for as potted plants and as cut flowers. Roughly 38 different cardiac glycosides – which are highly toxic if consumed by humans or animals – occur in the plant, including: The odor of lily of the valley, specifically the ligand bourgeonal, was thought to attract mammalian sperm. The 2003 discovery of this phenomenon prompted research into odor reception, but a 2012 study demonstrated instead that at high concentrations, bourgeonal imitated the role of progesterone in stimulating sperm to swim , a process unrelated to odor reception. All parts of the plant are potentially poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children. Although it has since been reformulated, it is considered a classic. Other perfumes imitating or based on the flower include Henri Robert's Muguet de Bois ,Penhaligon's Lily of the Valley , and Olivia Giacobetti's En Passant . Lily of the valley has been used in weddings and can be very expensive.