''Clintonia borealis'' is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''borealis'' means "of the north," which alludes to the fact that the species tends to thrive in the boreal forests of eastern Canada and

northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. ''Clintonia borealis'' is commonly known as bluebead, bluebead lily, or yellow clintonia. The term "bluebead" refers to the plant's small blue spherical fruit, perhaps its most striking feature. However, the term can be misleading since all but one of the species in genus '' Clintonia'' have blue fruits (notably, the fruit of '' C. umbellulata'' is black). Thus yellow clintonia is probably a better name for ''C. borealis'' since the adjective refers to the color of the plant's flower, a unique character among ''Clintonia'' species. Compound names such as yellow bead lily or yellow bluebead lily are also in use. Other less common names include corn lily, poisonberry, or snakeberry. Some authors refer to ''C. borealis'' as Clinton's lily but that name may be more appropriate for the genus as a whole.

Description

''Clintonia borealis'' is a small (5–10 in) perennial plant, usually found in homogeneous colonies. At full growth, a shoot has 2–4 clasping and curved, slightly succulent leaves with

parallel venation Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of IBM ...

. The flowers are arranged in small umbels at the extremity of a long stalk. They have 6

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s and 6 yellow tepals (i.e. very similar sepals and

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s). In rare cases more than one umbel is found on a shoot or shoots from a clone. The fruits are small dark blue, lurid berries, which are semi-poisonous. A white-berried form (f. ''albicarpa'') also exists.Scoggan, H. J. (1978). Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae, Monocotyledoneae. 2: 93–545. In ''Flora of Canada''. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa. The plant reproduces via seed or vegetatively by underground

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. By either method, the plants are slow to spread. One colony often covers several hundred square meters. File:Clintonia borealis (4639708749).jpg, Flowering in habitat,

Mille-Isles, Quebec Mille-Isles is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality, west of Saint-Jérôme. Mille-Isles is in the Laurentian Hills, crossed by rivers and dotted with fish-filled lakes. ...

File:Clintonia borealis - Blue bead lily (4870007793).jpg, Fruiting in habitat, Mille-Isles, Quebec File:Clintonia borealis fruits.JPG, Fruits

Taxonomy

In 1789, William Aiton described the species ''Dracaena borealis'' Aiton, a name that was to become a synonym for ''Clintonia borealis'' (Aiton) Raf. The latter was first described by

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

in 1832. The species ''C. borealis'' was previously classified within the genus ''

Convallaria ''Convallaria'' is a genus of flowering plants. It is usually described as a monotypic genus with the single species ''Convallaria majalis'' (lily-of-the-valley), but now some botanists distinguish up to three species, also including ''Convallaria ...

''.

Distribution

''Clintonia borealis'' is a wide-ranging species in eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, from Newfoundland and Labrador across New England into the Great Lakes region west to Manitoba and Minnesota. Its range extends southward into the Appalachian Mountains where it is

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

with '' C. umbellulata'', that is, the ranges of the two species do not significantly overlap but are immediately adjacent to one another. In the Appalachians, ''C. umbellulata'' prefers hardwood forests less than while ''C. borealis'' populates coniferous or mixed forests up to . ''C. borealis'' is globally secure but threatened in Maryland and Tennessee. It is an endangered species in Ohio and Indiana.

Ecology

''Clintonia borealis'' is not found in open spaces, only growing in the shade. It is extremely slow to spread, but established clones can usually survive many later modifications, as long as sunlight remains limited. Whereas crossed pollination is more efficient in producing seeds, self-pollination will still produce seeds, allowing the plant to propagate. Like other slow-growing forest plants, such as '' Trillium'' species, ''Clintonia'' is extremely sensitive to grazing by white-tailed deer.

Cultivation

Culture is difficult, due to the need to avoid direct sunlight and the difficulty posed by germination. Transplanting is not recommended.

Usage

Medicine

The rhizome contains

diosgenin Diosgenin, a phytosteroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of ''Dioscorea'' wild yam species, such as the Kokoro. The sugar-free (aglycone) product of such hydrolys ...

, a

saponin Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...

with estrogenic effects.

Food

The young leaves of the plant are edible while still only a few inches tall. The fruit however, is mildly toxic, and is quite unpleasant tasting.

Folklore

Hunters in North Quebec were said to have rubbed their traps with the roots because bears are attracted to its odor. According to a Mi'kmaq tale, when a grass snake eats a poisonous toad, it slithers in rapid circles around a shoot of the bluebead lily to transfer the poison to the plant.

References

Bibliography

External links

USWildflowers.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q291670 borealis Flora of Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Plants described in 1789