Lily of the valley#Legend and tradition

File:Convallaria majalis 0003.JPG

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, these upright dormant stems are often called pips.{{Cite book| last1 = Mills | first1 = Linn| last2 = Post | first2 = Dick| year = 2005| title = Nevada gardener's guide| page = 137| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oSjvc0zI1EsC&q=pips+lily+of+the+valley&pg=PA137| isbn = 978-1-59186-116-4| publisher = Cool Springs Press| location = Nashville, Tenn.}} These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground. The stems grow to {{convert|15–30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} tall, with one or two leaves {{convert|10–25|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long; flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of five to fifteen flowers on the stem apex.

The flowers have six white tepals (rarely pink), fused at the base to form a bell shape, {{convert|5–10|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} diameter, and sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it is in early March. The fruit is a small orange-red berry {{convert|5–7|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead {{convert|1–3|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} wide. Plants are self-incompatible, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed.{{cite journal | last1=OHARA | first1=MASASHI | last2=ARAKI | first2=KIWAKO | last3=YAMADA | first3=ETSUKO | last4=KAWANO | first4=SHOICHI | title=Life-history monographs of Japanese plants. 6: Convallaria keiskei Miq. (Convallariaceae) | journal=Plant Species Biology | publisher=Wiley | volume=21 | issue=2 | year=2006 | issn=0913-557X | doi=10.1111/j.1442-1984.2006.00157.x | pages=119–126}}

In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae{{Citation |last1=Chase |first1=M.W. |last2=Reveal |first2=J.L. |last3=Fay |first3=M.F. |year=2009 |title=A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=132–136 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x|name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free}}). 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=107908 |title=Convallaria in Flora of North America @ |publisher=Efloras.org |access-date=2012-04-30}}{{cite book |last=Weakley |first=A. S. |year=2020 |title=Flora of the southeastern United States |publisher=University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden |page=281}} ([https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/ Download page])

• Convallaria majalis var. keiskei – from China and Japan, with red fruit and bowl-shaped flowers (now widely cited as Convallaria keiskei){{Cite book |title=RHS Plant Finder 2009–2010 |year=2009 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |isbn=978-1-4053-4176-9 |pages=195, 196}}
• C. majalis var. majalis – from Eurasia, with white midribs on the flowers
• C. majalis var. montana – from the United States, maybe with green-tinted midribs on the flowersA. S. Weakley does not list green midribs among the distinctive characteristics of C. pseudomajalis, as he calls this taxon. – {{cite book |last=Weakley |first=A. S. |year=2020 |title=Flora of the southeastern United States |publisher=University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden |page=281}} ([https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/ Download page])

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.{{cite web |url=http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/convallaria/conva/convmajv.jpg |title=Liljekonvalj Blomningstid |language=sv |access-date=16 May 2018}} An eastern variety, C. majalis var. keiskei, occurs in Japan and parts of eastern Asia. A limited native population of C. majalis var. montana (synonym C. majuscula) occurs in the Eastern United States.{{cite web | title=Convallaria majalis var. montana in Flora of North America | website=eFloras.org | url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102225}} There is, however, some debate as to the native status of the American variety.Gleason, Henry A. and Cronquist, Arthur, (1991), Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, pp. 839–840. – In reply to Cronquist, A. S. Weakley points out that there is "a broad suite of morphological distinctions from European C. majalis" and that C. pseudomajalis, as he calls this taxon, is typically found "on ridges remote from present or past habitations" which excludes the idea of the taxon stemming from garden escapes. – Weakley, A. S. 2020. Flora of the southeastern United States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden. p. 281 ([https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/ Download page])

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.{{cite journal|last1=Vandepitte|first1=Katrien|last2=De Meyer|first2=Tim|last3=Jacquemyn|first3=Hans|title=The impact of extensive clonal growth on fine-scale mating patterns: a full paternity analysis of a lily-of-the-valley population (Convallaria majalis)|journal=Annals of Botany|date=February 2013|volume=111|issue=4|pages=623–628|doi=10.1093/aob/mct024|pmid=23439847|pmc=3605957}}

Convallaria majalis is a plant of partial shade, and a mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It likes soils that are silty or sandy and acid to moderately alkaline,{{cite web|title=Lily of the Valley Planting Guide|url=http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com//g-46-lily-of-the-valley-planting-guide.aspx|website=easytogrowbulbs.com|access-date=12 May 2015}} with preferably a plentiful amount of humus. The Royal Horticultural Society states that slightly alkaline soils are the most favored.RHS Encyclopaedia of Perennials{{full citation needed|date=February 2019}} It is a Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that lives in mountains up to {{convert|1500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in elevation.{{cite book|last=Rameau|first=J. C.|title=Flore Forestière Française|date=1989|publisher=Institut pour le développement Forestier|isbn=978-2-904740-16-9|page=1023|display-authors=etal}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Whitman|first1=Ann|title=Controlling Lily Leaf Beetles|url=http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/lily-beetle/8090.html|publisher=Gardner's Supply Company|access-date=12 May 2015}}

File:Lillyvalleystriiped.jpg early in spring]]

File:C. m. cv. Plena.JPG

File:C.m. cv. Rosea.JPG

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/4327/Convallaria-majalis/Details |title = Convallaria majalis | publisher=RHS|access-date=2020-04-17}}{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 22 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 24 January 2018}} 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.

• 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
• C. majalis 'Berlin Giant' and C. majalis 'Géant de Fortin' (syn. 'Fortin's Giant') are larger-growing cultivars
• C. majalis 'Flore Pleno' has double flowers.
• C. majalis 'Rosea' sometimes found under the name C. majalis var. rosea, has pink flowers.

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.{{cite book|title=Journal of horticulture and practical gardening|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vBIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA378|access-date=28 September 2010|year=1872|page=378}}

File:CardiacGlycoside.svg

Roughly 38 different cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) – which are highly toxic if consumed by humans or animals – occur in the plant, including:{{cite journal | last1=Roberts | first1=Darren M. | last2=Gallapatthy | first2=Gamini | last3=Dunuwille | first3=Asunga | last4=Chan | first4=Betty S. | title=Pharmacological treatment of cardiac glycoside poisoning | journal=British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology| volume=81 | issue=3| year=2016 | issn=0306-5251 | pmid=26505271 | pmc=4767196 | doi=10.1111/bcp.12814 | pages=488–495}}

The odor of lily of the valley, specifically the ligand bourgeonal, was once thought to attract mammalian sperm.{{cite journal|author=Marc Spehr |author2=Günter Gisselmann |author3=Alexandra Poplawski |author4=Jeffrey A. Riffell |author5=Christian H. Wetzel |author6=Richard K. Zimmer |author7=Hanns Hatt |year=2003 |title=Identification of a Testicular Odorant Receptor Mediating Human Sperm Chemotaxis |journal=Science |volume=299 |issue=5615 |pages=2054–8 |doi=10.1126/science.1080376 |url=http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;299/5615/2054 |access-date=24 June 2012 |pmid=12663925 |bibcode=2003Sci...299.2054S |s2cid=45306091}}

• See also: {{cite journal|last=Babcock |first=Donner F. |date=28 March 2003 |title=Development. Smelling the Roses? |url=http://scitec.uwichill.edu.bb/bcs/courses/Biochemistry/BL38B/pdf2/babcock03sci.pdf |journal=Science |volume=299 |issue=5615 |pages=1993–1994 |doi=10.1126/science.1083059 |pmid=12663902 |s2cid=83936617 |access-date=12 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504000922/http://scitec.uwichill.edu.bb/bcs/courses/Biochemistry/BL38B/pdf2/babcock03sci.pdf |archive-date= 4 May 2006 |url-status=dead}}. The 2003 discovery of this phenomenon prompted research into odor reception,For example [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070418104315.htm ScienceDaily 2007] but a 2012 study demonstrated instead that at high concentrations, bourgeonal imitated the role of progesterone in stimulating sperm to swim (chemotaxis), a process unrelated to odor reception.{{cite journal |author=Christoph Brenker |author2=Normann Goodwin |author3=Ingo Weyand |author4=Nachiket D Kashikar |author5=Masahiro Naruse |author6=Miriam Krähling |author7=Astrid Müller |author8=U Benjamin Kaupp |author9=Timo Strünker |year=2012 |title=The CatSper channel: a polymodal chemosensor in human sperm |journal=The EMBO Journal |volume=31 |pages=1654–1665 |doi=10.1038/emboj.2012.30 |issue=7 |pmid=22354039 |pmc=3321208}} See also [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120228102013.htm ScienceMag article]

All parts of the plant are potentially poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children.{{cite web| url=http://www.ontariopoisoncentre.ca/common-poisons/poisonous-plants/plants.aspx |publisher=Ontario Poison Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children | title=Poisonous plants: Lily of the valley|date=2015}} If ingested, the plant can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and irregular heartbeats.

In 1956, the French firm Dior produced a fragrance simulating lily of the valley, which was Christian Dior's favorite flower. Diorissimo was designed by Edmond Roudnitska.[https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/best-lily-of-the-valley-perfumes "Lily of the Valley Perfumes"]. Vogue slideshow. Although it has since been reformulated, it is considered a classic.Patty. "Best Lily of the Valley Perfume – Muguet Guide". Perfume Posse, April 8, 2013. 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.{{cite book|last1=Turin|first1=Luca|last2=Sanchez|first2=Tania|title=Perfumes: The Guide 2018|date=2018|publisher=Perfüümista ÖÜ|location=Tallinn|page=304|isbn=978-9949-88-553-4}}{{cite web|url=https://echa.europa.eu/substance-information/-/substanceinfo/100.003.199|title=Substance Infocard: 7-hydroxycitronellal|website=European Chemicals Agency}}

Other perfumes imitating or based on the flower include Henri Robert's Muguet de Bois (1936),{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Edwin T.|title=Fragrance : A story of perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel|date=1984|publisher=Scribners|location=New York|isbn=978-0684181950}} Penhaligon's Lily of the Valley (1976), and Olivia Giacobetti's En Passant (2000).

File:Kate Middleton in bridal gown.jpg with bridal bouquet featuring lily of the valley]]

Lily of the valley has been used in weddings and off-season can be very expensive.{{Cite web |url=http://www.aboutflowersblog.com/lily-of-the-valley-stars-in-royal-bridal-bouquet/ |title=Lily of the Valley Stars in Royal Bridal Bouquet |access-date=2012-07-23 |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608121311/https://aboutflowersblog.com/lily-of-the-valley-stars-in-royal-bridal-bouquet/ |url-status=dead }} Lily of the valley was featured in the bridal bouquet at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13235599 Balcony kisses seal royal wedding] Lily of the valley was also the flower chosen by Princess Grace of Monaco to be featured in her bridal bouquet.{{citation needed|date = May 2017}}

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 La Fête du Muguet 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.{{cite web |title=Lily of the Valley – May Day in France |date=26 April 2010 |url=https://visitnormandy.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/lily-of-the-valley-may-day-in-france/ |publisher=wordpress.com |access-date=24 June 2015}}

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.{{Cite book|title=Shout Kernow|last=Coleman and Burley|first=Hilary and Sally|publisher=Francis Boutle Publishers|year=2015|isbn=978-1903427972|location=London|pages=53–55}}

The plant has been used in folk medicine for centuries.{{cite book |last=Weiss |first=RF |date=1988 |title=Herbal Medicine |publisher=Ab Arcanum |pages=146–147 |isbn= 978-0906584194}} 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".{{cite book |last=Stevenson |first=RL |date=1886 |title=Kidnapped |publisher=Cassell and Company}} There is no scientific evidence that lily of the valley has any effective medicinal uses for treating human diseases.

File:Royal Vale 'Lily Of The Valley' cup and saucer - 2024-11-20 - Andy Mabbett - 01.jpg

The lily of the valley was the national flower of Yugoslavia,{{cite web |title=Lily of the valley |url=http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/flowers-names/i-l/lily-of-the-valley/ |publisher=flowers.org.uk |access-date=24 June 2015}} and it also became the national flower of Finland in 1967.{{cite web | title=Lily of the Valley – Finland's National Flower |date=28 May 2013 |url=https://ericksonexpats.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/lily-of-the-valley-finlands-national-flower/ |publisher=wordpress.com |access-date=24 June 2015}}

In the "language of flowers", the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness.{{Cite web |url=http://www.trailend.org/bel-traditions.htm |title=Wedding Traditions & Trivia |access-date=2012-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715035157/http://www.trailend.org/bel-traditions.htm#Say%20It%20With%20Flowers |archive-date=2012-07-15 |url-status=dead}}

{{Anchor|Myths}}

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 ({{lang|he|{{linktext|שׁוֹשַׁנַּת הָעֲמָקִים}}}}).See also Shoshanat HaAmakim village European herbalists' use of the phrase to refer to a specific plant species seems to have appeared relatively late in the 16th{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=lily+of+the+valley|title=Lily of the valley | Search Online Etymology Dictionary}} or 15th century.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. The Neo-Latin term convallaria (coined by Carl Linnaeus) and, for example, the Swedish name {{linktext|liljekonvalj}} derives from the corresponding phrase lilium convallium in the Vulgate.

• The flower is the theme of a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dunbar |first=Paul Laurence |author-link=Paul Laurence Dunbar |title=Lily of the Valley |encyclopedia=Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow |date=1905 |location=New York |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |pages=9–10 |isbn=9781978194366 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fT4RAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2022-07-15}}
• Tchaikovsky wrote the poem "Lilies of the Valley" (Ландыши) in December 1878 while in Florence.{{cite web |title=Lilies of the Valley |website=Tchaikovsky Research |date=2022-07-12 |url=https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Lilies_of_the_Valley |access-date=2022-07-16 |postscript=,}} citing {{cite book |last=Poznansky |first=Alexander |title=Tchaikovsky. The quest for the inner man |date=1996 |isbn=0028718852 |pages=336–7|publisher=Schirmer Books }}
• In Anton Chekhov's 1898 short story "A Doctor's Visit", drops of convallaria are mentioned as medicine.
• "Lilies-of-the-Valley" is a 1916 Marc Chagall painting,{{cite web |title=Lilies-of-the-Valley, 1916 |website=Marc Chagall |date=2022 |url=https://www.marcchagallart.net/chagall-101.php |access-date=2022-07-16}} on display at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
• The eponymous song by English rock band Queen.
• "Face Off", the finale of the fourth season of the television series Breaking Bad, includes lily of the valley's use as a poison.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683088/plotsummary |title='Breaking Bad' Face Off (TV Episode 2011) |type=Plot Summary |website=IMDb |access-date=15 July 2022}}
• In the third episode of Outlander, children are revealed to have been dying after confusing Lily of the Valley for garlic and eating it.
• In 2022, lily of the valley, reputedly Queen Elizabeth II's favourite flower, was the theme of the poem "Floral Tribute" by the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, written in memory of the Queen and published in the week after her death.{{Cite news |date=2022-09-13 |title=Queen Elizabeth II: Poet laureate Simon Armitage marks death of monarch |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62886384 |access-date=2022-09-13}}

File:Convallaria-oliv-r2.jpg|Convallaria close-up

File:Convallaria majalis Kemi, Finland 02.06.2013.jpg|Convallarias in Kemi in early June

File:Stamp of Moldova 429.gif|Moldovan stamp

File:Pennä reverse Anu 1990.jpg|Finnish 10 penny coin with the Convallaria engraving

File:1 of May, 1851.jpg|1 May, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

File:Lunner komm.svg|Lunner (Norway) municipal coat of arms

• List of plants known as lily

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{{Commons and category|Convallaria majalis|Convallaria majalis}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=5375 Invasive Plant Atlas] – US Distribution Map
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150926231730/https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/convallaria-majalis/ Convallaria majalis fact sheet] – NC Cooperative Extension

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Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of temperate Asia

Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States

Category:Flora of Myanmar

Category:Flora of West Virginia

Category:Garden plants of Asia

Category:Garden plants of Europe

Category:Garden plants of North America

Category:Medicinal plants

Category:Nolinoideae

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus