Plant
Lily of the valley
Convallaria majalis
Also known as: Convallaria majalis
A small woodland perennial in the family Asparagaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Distinctive for its tiny pendant white bell-flowers strung along a single arched stem and its powerful sweet floral fragrance. Despite the gentle appearance, the entire plant is highly toxic — *Convallaria* contains cardiac glycosides similar to those in [[foxglove]]. The species is the national flower of Finland; the May 1st French *Muguet* tradition is one of the most-recognized European seasonal-flower customs; the flower is also a major foundational note in classical perfumery (despite being chemically impossible to extract — most 'lily of the valley' perfume notes are synthetic reconstructions).
Scientific
Convallaria majalis (family Asparagaceae) is a small woodland understory perennial spreading by underground rhizomes. The plant produces two narrow basal leaves and a single arched flowering stem bearing 5–15 small pendant white bell-flowers in late spring.
Toxicity is significant. The plant contains convallatoxin and related cardiac glycosides — chemically similar to the digoxin of foxglove. Ingestion of even small quantities can cause cardiac arrhythmia. Children, pets, and grazing livestock are at particular risk.
The flower fragrance is one of the most-recognized in floral perfumery — sweet, complex, slightly green, slightly powdery. The aromatic compounds resist extraction by traditional perfumery techniques (steam distillation destroys the volatile profile); virtually all “muguet” notes in perfumery are synthetic chemical reconstructions of the natural scent.
Cultural
The flower is woven through European tradition:
- French — the Muguet (lily of the valley) is given on May 1st (May Day, Labour Day in France); the tradition traces to 1561 when King Charles IX received a muguet as a luck token and adopted the practice of giving it to court ladies each subsequent May 1
- Finnish — national flower since the early 20th century
- Christian symbolism — the “Mary’s tears” association; lily of the valley is often a Marian iconographic flower
- Royal wedding flower — Princess Grace of Monaco (1956), Kate Middleton (2011), and other royal brides have carried lily-of-the-valley bouquets
The combination of fragrance, white-on-green simplicity, and short blooming season (typically 2–3 weeks in May) has made the flower one of the most-loved European spring flowers despite its toxicity.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Lily of the valley
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one directory.
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
General
shares approach with
- Asparagus auto-linked via shared tag: asparagaceae
- English yew auto-linked via shared tag: europe
- Foxglove auto-linked via shared tag: europe
- Hyacinth auto-linked via shared tag: asparagaceae
- Violet auto-linked via shared tag: perfumery
5 inbound links · 2 outbound