Maianthemum bifolium

(L.) F. W. Schmidt

Asparagaceae Edible: Fruit 26,671 iNaturalist observations

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iNaturalist· cc-by-sa

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Summary

Maianthemum bifolium (false lily of the valley or May lily) is often a localized common rhizomatous flowering plant, native from western Europe (including Britain) east to Siberia, China and Japan.

Description

A herb. It grows 8-20 cm tall. The rhizome is 20 cm long by 1-2 mm wide and can be forked. The stems can have scattered hairs. There are usually 2 leaves on the stem. The leaves are 3-8 cm long by 1-5 cm wide. The veins areahiry underneath the leaf. The base is heart shaped and there are small teeth along the edge. The flowers occur singly or in pairs. They are white. The fruit is a red berry 3-6 mm across.

Edible Uses

The red berries are eaten fresh as a snack or used to make wine.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are used to make wine. They are also eaten as a snack.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows in moist places and on hillsides along streams between 500-2,700 m above sea level in north China.

Where It Grows

Asia, Belarus, China, Estonia, Europe, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mongolia, North America, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, Slovenia,

Notes

Also put in the families Malvaceae, Convallariaceae and Liliaceae.

Synonyms

Convallaria bifolia L.

Also Known As

Dvolistna senčnica, Maiblom, Majnik, Metsviinamari, Orava marjad, Viinamari

References (6)

Girard, N. J., 2020, Sustainable Foraging of Wild Edible Plants in Norway. A Biocultural Approach. M. Sc. thesis Norwegian University. p 128
http://www.botanic-gardens-ljubljana.com/en/plants
Kalle, R. & Soukand, R., 2012, Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s-1960s) Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):271-281
Łukasz Łuczaj and Wojciech M Szymański, 2007, Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review. J Ethnobiol Ethnomedicine. 3: 17
Soukand, R., et al, 2017, Multi-functionality of the few: current and past uses of wild plants for food and healing in Liubań region, Belarus. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2017) 13:10

Show all 6 references

Urgamal, M., Oyuntsetseg, B., Nyambayar, D. & Dulamsuren, Ch. 2014. Conspectus of the vascular plants of Mongolia. (Editors: Sanchir, Ch. & Jamsran, Ts.). Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.