Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Polygonatum biflorum +
FAMILY
Ruscaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Smooth Solomon's-seal has a gracefully arching stem that can grow to 3-5 feet long in the mountains (var. commutatum), though more often about 2 feet long downstate. As with False Solomon's-seal, there are numerous alternate elliptical and entire leaves along the stem, also two-ranked (into a single plane). The leaves average about 4 inches long and also are strongly parallel-veined, but the stem is not zigzag and it is generally a pale green or almost whitish in color, helping to separate it from False Solomon's-seal when not in bloom. Learn more from Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
There has been a wide divergence of opinion regarding the merits (and practicality) of distinguishing P. biflorum var. commutatum from typical P. biflorum, and the characters considered most reliable. The two taxa may differ in chromosome number and geographical distribution; they are not, however, always readily distinguished morphologically. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2025).
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Polygonatum biflorum
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-10-002:
Polygonatum biflorum FAMILY Liliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygonatum commutatum
COMMON NAME:
Smooth Solomon's Seal
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_203
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_poco7_001_lvd
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950 pnd_poco7_003_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm090412_010
April Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm090412_014
April Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm120414_990
April Pickens County SC
Twin Falls
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JK Marlow jkm120424_518
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Leaves smooth and glaucous beneath, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm120424_521
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
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JK Marlow jkm150423_511
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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JK Marlow jkm200415_3838
April Greenville County SC
Chandler Heritage Preserve
Flowers tubular with 6 short lobes, greenish when young, white when mature, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm240412_8526
April Greenville County SC
Rhizomes with knobby swellings run horizontally beneath the soil surface, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
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Keith Bradley kab_p_biflorum_03190
April NC
Flowers usually in pairs from a common stalk, but more may be present, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
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JK Marlow jkm090503_088
May Polk County NC
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JK Marlow jkm090503_088b
May Polk County NC
Stem of var. commutatum robust, 5-13mm thick below the leaves, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
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Tim Spira tpspbiflorum
May
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JK Marlow jkm0106a_00
June Transylvania County NC
Roadside
Var. commutatum can be 20dm tall; larger leaves 9-25cm x 3.5-13cm; lower leaves clasping to 300°, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
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JK Marlow jkm0309m_15
September Greenville County SC
Stem of var. biflorum slender, 1.5-5mm in xs; plants to 9dm tall; larger leaves 5.5-15cm x 1.2-6cm, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
COMPARE
Solomon's Plume, Solomon's Seal, Twisted Stalk, and two Bellworts
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Tim Spira tpspbiflorum2
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Polygonatum biflorum +
FAMILY
Ruscaceae
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Polygonatum biflorum
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-10-002:
Polygonatum biflorum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygonatum commutatum
1114
Forb
Perennial
Look for it . Depending on variety, it can be found in moist to dry forests and/or on roadbanks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common, uncommon, rare, or absent - depending on variety & region
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Whitish
Radially symmetrical
6 tepals, almost completely connate
6 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in drooping axillary clusters
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blue-black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p231
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p135
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p161
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p034
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p202
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p251
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p342
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p271
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) P166
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p027
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p366
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p366
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p421
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p428
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p007
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p132
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