Smooth Solomon's seal

Appearance

Unbranched leaf stalks of one to several feet in length, with simple, alternate leaves and parallel veins. In May, clusters of small white-green flowers droop from the stalks and later produce small blue berries. If dug up, the scars resembling Solomon’s Seal may be visible on the nodes between sections of rhizomes.

Naming

Polygonatum is derived from Greek, “poly” meaning many, and “gony” meaning knees. biflorum is from Latin “biflorus” meaning two flowers.

P. biflorum is now regarded as including a number of other species and varieties, e.g. P. biflorum var. commutatum or P. commutatum.

Uses

Historically, the Native Americans consumed the starch-rich rhizomes of Solomon’s Seal as a “potato-like food” used to made breads and soups. The young shoots are also edible, raw or boiled for an asparagus-like food. Solomon’s seal was not only consumed for sustenance, but also for its medicinal properties. For example, the rhizome was used in making a tonic for gout and rheumatism. Solomon’s Seal is listed today in the Handbook of Medicinal Herbs as having nearly a dozen medicinal uses including as an anti-inflammatory, sedative, and tonic. Solomon’s Seal is not used in large-scale agriculture.