Clintonia borealis

Clintonia borealis
Growing on Mont Tremblant, Quebec

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Genus: Clintonia
Species:
C. borealis
Binomial name
Clintonia borealis
Synonyms[2]
Synonymy
  • Clintonia aitonii Raf.
  • Clintonia angustifolia Raf.
  • Clintonia biflora Raf.
  • Clintonia biumbella Raf.
  • Clintonia borealis f. albicarpa Killip ex House
  • Clintonia borealis f. lateralis Peck
  • Clintonia ciliata Raf.
  • Clintonia falcata Raf.
  • Clintonia fulva Raf.
  • Clintonia glomerata Raf.
  • Clintonia latifolia Raf.
  • Clintonia multiflora Raf.
  • Clintonia mutans Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'dasistema' Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'fascicularis' Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'macrostema' Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'obovata' Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'prolifera' Raf.
  • Clintonia nutans var. 'uniflora' Raf.
  • Clintonia ophioglossoides Raf.
  • Clintonia triflora Raf.
  • Clintonia undulata Raf.
  • Convallaria borealis (Aiton) Poir.
  • Dracaena borealis Aiton
  • Smilacina borealis (Aiton) Ker Gawl.

Clintonia borealis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The specific epithet 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.[3]

Clintonia borealis is commonly known as bluebead, bluebead lily, or yellow clintonia.[4][5] 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[6] but that name may be more appropriate for the genus as a whole.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NatureServe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference POWO 30082120-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference USFS Plant of the Week was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference USDA CLBO3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference FNA 220003043 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hemmerly 2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).