North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Maianthemum canadense

Maianthemum canadense Desf.

canada mayflower

Synonym(s): Maianthemum canadense var. interius, Maianthemum canadense var. pubescens

Image ID: 15572
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: MACA4
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Maianthemum canadense
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-02-06

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: MAIAN
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Maianthemum
GENUS AUTHORITY: F.H. Wigg.
GENUS COMMON: Mayflower
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 28 species, herbs, of n. Europe, e. Asia, North America, and Central America. The inclusion of the traditional Smilacina in Maianthemum remains controversial and uncertain.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: LaFrankie (1986)=Z; Judd (2003)=Y; LaFrankie in FNA (2002a); Conran & Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LILIAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Liliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Lily Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Short, erect, colonial perennial found in moist forests, especially at high elevations.
STEMS: Stems smooth, unbranched, sometimes seeming to zigzag.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, sessile with clasping base, oval to lance-shaped, 1-4 in. long, shiny; typically only 1-3 per plant.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in single, narrow, terminal raceme to 1 1/2 in. long; white; consisting of 4 tiny, slightly reflexed, short-lived, pointed tepals and protruding, persistent stamens.
FRUITS: Fruit a red-mottled-with-green, round berry.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 1 1/2-7 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Mid May-early Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: White

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x

FRUITING PERIOD: Aug-Sep.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: High elevation, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
993	HORT	1993-03-17	Ward	View
1037	HORT	2005-08-02	Lewandowski	View
1485	HORT	2005-08-02	Lewandowski	View
1574	HORT	2005-09-30	Bryan	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
3121	1989-0082			View
9219	2005-0200	2020-05-07	1485	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
5200	3121	76	NCBG staff	2001-05-02	View
5201	3121	187	NCBG staff	2001-05-08	View
12311	9219	77	Liloia	2008-03-14	View
13738	0	74	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13951	9219	65	Liloia	2009-03-31	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: MACA4
USDA Common Name: Canada Mayflower
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
Distribution: USA (CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY), CAN (AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, NF, NS, NT, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT), FRA (SPM)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FAC				FAC	FACU		FAC	FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Maianthemum canadense
COMMON NAME: Canada Mayflower, "False Lily-of-the-valley"
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, K, Pa, RAB, Va, W, WV, Y, Z; > Maianthemum canadense Desfontaines var. canadense - C, F, G; = Unifolium canadense (Desfontaines) Greene - S]
PHENOLOGY: Mid May-early Jul; Aug-Sep.
HABITAT: Moist forests, especially at high elevations.
COMMENTS: NL (Labrador) and NL (Newfoundland) west to NT, south to MD, NC, n. GA (Jones & Coile 1988), KY and SD. Two varieties have been described, but their recognition is not strongly supported. Var. canadense, with leaves glabrous beneath, the margins entire or minutely crenulate, cross-veins of the leaf well-developed, is widepread in the distribution of the species. Var. interius Fernald has the leaves pubescent beneath, the leaf margins distinctly ciliate, and cross-veins obscure; it is not known from our area, but extends east and south as far as MA, NY, and OH. Further study of these varieties is needed. Weller (1970) reports equivocal results on the recognition of varieties, based on a study in n. MI.
RANGE MAP: Maianthemum canadense.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Liliaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Lily Family)
SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Maianthemum F.H. Wigg. (Mayflower)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 28 species, herbs, of n. Europe, e. Asia, North America, and Central America. The inclusion of the traditional Smilacina in Maianthemum remains controversial and uncertain.
REFERENCE: LaFrankie (1986)=Z; Judd (2003)=Y; LaFrankie in FNA (2002a); Conran & Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Maianthemum canadense in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Maianthemum canadense in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Maianthemum canadense in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Maianthemum canadense in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Maianthemum canadense in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Maianthemum canadense

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 15572 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19378 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 27574 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)