The white flower in last week’s puzzler is white clintonia, (Clinton umbrellulata) also called Clinton’s lily, bluebead, and speckled wood lily. It is found in forests throughout the Appalachian Mountains from NY and Pennsylvania south to Georgia and South Carolina. White clintonia spreads through rhizomes (horizontal stem of a plant that grows underground and sends new shoots up to make more plants.) It is an interesting plant because it has 2-4 leaves at the base of a tall stalk–up to 20 inches high where the white, disco-ball-like flower sits. Sometimes the flower is edged with a purplish color, making it even more beautiful.
There are two other look-alike flowers in this family– but only one, C. borealis that is found in the eastern forests and it has yellow flowers, not white. In the fall this flower stalk has beautiful black-blue beads at the top of it, hence the common name of bluebead lily. But using the common name of bluebead lily is super confusing as that is also the common name of the other clintonia–C. borealis and that flower has berries at the top of its stalk that are blue, not black. The photo below shows the berries of the OTHER clintonia, Clintonia borealis… I know, confusing right! I guess that’s why scientists just stick to the Latin names of plants so there is less confusion. I am not a scientist! And definitely make mistakes on identification. I always try my best.
Maybe you’ll see this in a forest near you and get to look at it closely. I hope so, as the flower really is attractive, especially up close. Ready for another puzzler? Let’s switch tracks and look at something a little smaller–some eggs I found recently on a special plant.