Appearance
"C. majalis" is a herbaceous perennial plant that 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. These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground, often forming extensive colonies.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 5–15 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.
The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1–3 mm wide. Plants are self-sterile, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed.
Naming
Other names include May lily, May bells, and "muguet". In Bulgarian and Macedonian it is called "момина сълза" /momina.səlza/ and "момина солза" respectively, meaning "lass's tear".Its scientific name, "majalis" or "maialis", means "of or belonging to May", and old astrological books place the plant under the dominion of Mercury, since Maia, the daughter of Atlas, was the mother of Mercury or Hermes.
In the "language of flowers", the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness. Legend tells of the affection of a lily of the valley for a nightingale that did not come back to the woods until the flower bloomed in May.
Distribution
"C. majalis" is a native of Europe, where it largely avoids the Mediterranean and Atlantic margins. An eastern variety, "C. majalis" var. "Manschurica" occurs in Japan and parts of eastern Asia. A limited native population of "C. majalis" var. "montana" occurs in Eastern USA. There is, however, some debate as to the native status of the American variety.
Habitat
It is a plant of partial shade, and mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It likes soils that are silty or sandy and acid to moderate basic.It is an Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that lives in mountains up to 1.500 m altitude.
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