Convallaria majalis

Name and determination

Record the authority, evidence and limits behind the species and any cultivar attribution.

1. Which taxonomic treatment defines Convallaria majalis for this determination? definition
2. Who identified the material, using which voucher, photographs, key or supplier record? provenance
3. Does a cultivar or alternative taxon label require qualification without creating another registry thing? boundary

Organ-level identification

Require a combination of characters and explicitly preserve unresolved alternatives.

1. What leaf attachment, venation, flower arrangement and underground structure were actually observed? measurement
2. Which characters distinguish this material from locally plausible Allium, Polygonatum, Maianthemum or other Convallaria candidates? boundary
3. What additional observation or expert determination is needed before identification-dependent action? action

Unit and connectivity

Record what was counted or sampled and the evidence for connections among shoots.

1. Does this record concern one shoot, a rhizome segment, a patch or a stock lot? definition
2. Are shared rhizomes directly observed, inferred from proximity or unknown? provenance
3. What evidence, if any, supports treating multiple shoots as one genetic individual? boundary

Extent and recurrence

Use comparable observations to distinguish stable occupancy, expansion and regrowth after intervention.

1. What area and boundary does the patch occupy relative to fixed reference points? measurement
2. Where have new shoots appeared since the previous comparable seasonal survey? measurement
3. Which boundary crossings or recurrent shoots trigger containment or follow-up? action

Dormancy versus decline

Assess foliage loss and lack of emergence against the plant's observed history and underground evidence.

1. Which developmental stage is present, on what date and at which location? measurement
2. What distinguishes expected senescence or dormancy from damage or death in this case? boundary
3. When should the plant be revisited before declaring it lost or replacing it? action

Reproductive output

Separate flowering performance, fruit formation and demonstrated seed viability.

1. How many sampled shoots flowered, and how many flowering stalks subsequently carried fruit? measurement
2. What is known about planting-stock origins and potential genetic differences among nearby plants? provenance
3. What evidence distinguishes failed fruit set, lost fruit and observations made outside the fruiting period? boundary

Site-performance fit

Compare measured conditions with observed emergence, leaf condition and flowering.

1. What light exposure, root-zone moisture and drainage conditions occur during active growth? measurement
2. Which changes in canopy, irrigation, soil disturbance or weather preceded altered performance? provenance
3. What cultivation adjustment is justified, and which observation will indicate whether it helped? action

Symptom pattern and confidence

Locate damage by organ and across the patch before selecting an intervention.

1. Which leaves, stalks, buds or rhizomes are affected, and what proportion of the sample shows each symptom? measurement
2. What evidence distinguishes seasonal yellowing, environmental stress, feeding damage and disease? boundary
3. Is monitoring sufficient, or is a diagnostic sample needed before treatment? action

Exposure prevention and routing

Identify accessible material and route suspected exposure without attempting clinical assessment.

1. Can children, pets or foragers access leaves, berries, cut stems or discarded plant material? boundary
2. What labelling, separation or access change would address the observed exposure opportunity? action
3. If ingestion is suspected, which local poison or veterinary service should receive the plant identification, material, timing and exposure details? action

Locally justified intervention

Connect the intended outcome to stock identity, local status and a verifiable follow-up.

1. Which dated local authority or land-management record establishes restrictions or conservation concerns at this site? provenance
2. Do identity, rhizome condition, destination and local seasonal guidance support division or relocation? action
3. If removal is chosen, how will rhizomes and contaminated soil be handled, and when will recurrence be checked? action

Kinds and varieties

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Typical white-flowered European wild type (C. majalis var. majalis)
• Pink-flowered garden forms (var./f. rosea, cv. Rosea)
• Variegated-leaf cultivars (e.g. Albostriata, Aureovariegata, Vic Pawlowski's Gold)
• Double or proliferous cultivars (Prolificans, Flore Pleno)
• Large-flowered garden selections (e.g. Fortin's Giant)
• East Asian lily-of-the-valley, often split as C. keiskei (or C. majalis var. keiskei)
• Appalachian American lily-of-the-valley, usually treated as C. majuscula (formerly C. montana)

1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Identifiers and schemes

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wikidata - Q101818 - Item for the species Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley).
• IPNI / LSID - urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:535792-1 - Linnaean name Convallaria majalis L., Sp. Pl. 1: 314 (1753).
• Botanical binomial - Convallaria majalis L. - Accepted species name; genus often treated as one species or as two-three geographic segregates.
• USDA PLANTS symbol - COMA3 - Symbol used in the USDA PLANTS database for Convallaria majalis.

1. Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Standards and regulation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• German Commission E monograph on Convallariae herba as a cardenolide cardiac drug (historical; narrow therapeutic index) - Commission E / BfArM
• Treated as a poisonous plant containing digitalis-like glycosides, not a food - national poisons centres and FDA poisonous-plant listings
• French customary exemption allowing unlicensed street sale of muguet bunches on 1 May - French public-vending rules
• Not CITES-listed; garden escapes listed as invasive in parts of northeastern North America - state invasive-plant councils

1. Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Shade and woodland garden groundcover forming dense rhizome carpets
• Cut-flower and florist trade, especially French 1 May muguet bunches
• Bridal and wedding work as small white scented sprays
• Perfumery: the 'muguet' note is almost always a synthetic reconstitution, because the flowers yield virtually no essential oil
• Obsolete internal medicine for mild heart failure (convallatoxin), abandoned because safer standardised digitalis glycosides exist
• Cultural emblem (Finland's national flower; Christian 'Our Lady's tears'; May Day in France)

1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Typical measurements

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Aerial shoot height - 15-30 - cm
• Leaf blade length - 8-20 - cm
• Flowers per raceme - 5-15 - count
• Corolla length - 5-10 - mm
• Ripe berry diameter - 6-12 - mm
• Somatic chromosome number - 38 - 2n

1. Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Ingestion of any organ causes digitalis-like cardiotoxicity (vomiting, bradycardia, AV block, ventricular arrhythmias); orange-red berries are a paediatric hazard
• Foragers confuse the leaves with ramsons (Allium ursinum); a documented route to serious poisoning
• Toxic to dogs, cats and livestock; vase water can also be hazardous
• Aggressive rhizomatous spread that is hard to eradicate and can invade eastern North American woodland understorey
• Medicinal use is unsafe relative to standardised digitalis glycosides because of a very narrow therapeutic index

1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Common names: lily of the valley (English), muguet (French), Maiglöckchen (German), kielo (Finnish, national flower), liljekonvalj (Swedish)
• East Asia: usually treated as a separate species, C. keiskei, not as C. majalis s.str.
• Southern Appalachians: native American lily-of-the-valley is C. majuscula, not the Eurasian garden plant
• France uniquely treats it as a 1 May street flower with a vending custom
• In much of Europe it is a native woodland herb; in most of North America it is a garden plant and local escape

1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Allium ursinum (ramsons / wild garlic) - Crush a leaf: garlic/onion odour is present in Allium and absent in Convallaria; flowers in an umbel versus a one-sided raceme of campanulate bells.
• Maianthemum bifolium / M. canadense (false lily-of-the-valley) - Flowers tetramerous (four tepals) versus hexamerous (six); fruit typically pale or speckled, not a glossy orange-red berry.
• Polygonatum spp. (Solomon's seal) - Flowers hang in axillary pairs along an arching leafy stem, not on a leafless scape beside two basal leaves.
• Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) - Solitary nodding flower with green marks on the inner tepals, two linear leaves, and an earlier bloom.
• Convallaria keiskei - East Asian segregate with generally larger foliage and later anthesis; separated by provenance and by floras that split the genus, not by a single field character.

1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Convallaria majalis this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance