False Lily of the Valley

Did you know

• It forms extensive carpets in Pacific Northwest forests through creeping rhizomes, sometimes covering entire forest floors.
• The red berries that follow the flowers are edible but essentially tasteless, unlike the toxic berries of true lily of the valley.
• It is one of the few plants with a disjunct distribution, found in both western North America and eastern Asia, a relic of ancient land connections.
• The tiny star-shaped flowers have only four tepals, which is unusual since most monocots have flower parts in threes.
• Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest used the plant as a medicinal tea and occasionally ate the berries.

Color meanings

Uses

• ground cover
• shade gardens
• woodland gardens
• native plant gardens