Common Name: Wild Lily Of The Valley

General Information

Maianthemum dilatatum is an erect, herbaceous perennial plant producing a tight clump of unbranched stems 20 - 45cm tall from a rhizomatous rootstockthat can grow up to 0.20 metres tall.
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Western N. America - Alaska and Yukon, south through Oregon and Idaho to California; E. Asia - Mongolia, Russian Far East, Japan, Korea

Habitat

Shaded or moist streambanks and open to dense coniferous and broadleaved woods if they are moist, especially favouring woodland margins, growing in humus-rich slightly acid soils; at elevations up to 1,000 metres[, , ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.30 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a cool shady moist but not wet position[, ]. Plants tolerate warm summers only if the soil remains moist[].
A mat forming plant, it can be invasive in good conditions[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or dried for later use[, ]. The fruits are about the size of small peas and are produced in terminal clusters on the plants, they are not regarded very highly[]. North American Indian children would eat the raw unripe green berries straight from the plant[]. Adults would usually harvest the green berries and then store them in water until they turned red and were soft[]. Alternatively they would dry the green berries and then boil them for a few minutes[].

Young leaves - cooked[].

Medicinal

A poultice made of the whole or the mashed leaves has been applied to boils, burns, cuts and wounds[].

The fruit has been used as a good medicine in the treatment of tuberculosis[].

The root has been chewed in order to correct sterility[]. (This probably means to restore fertility[])
An infusion of the pounded roots has been used as a wash for sore eyes, whilst the chewed roots have been used as a poultice on the eyes[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown quite thinly it as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in the spring. Stored seed should be sown in late winter in a cold frame, it might take 18 months to germinate. Allow the seedlings to grow on in the pot for their first year, giving liquid feeds as necessary to ensure that they do not go hungry. Divide the plants into individual pots once they have died down in late summer. Grow them on in pots for another year or more until large enough to plant out[].
Division as new growth commences in the spring. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.