The species C. borealis was previously classified within the genus Convallaria. The latter was first described by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1832. In 1789, William Aiton described the species Dracaena borealis Aiton, a name that was to become a synonym for Clintonia borealis (Aiton) Raf. One colony often covers several hundred square meters. By either method, the plants are slow to spread. The plant reproduces via seed or vegetatively by underground rhizomes. The fruits are small dark blue, lurid berries, which are semi-poisonous. In rare cases more than one umbel is found on a shoot or shoots from a clone. They have 6 stamens and 6 yellow tepals (i.e. The flowers are arranged in small umbels at the extremity of a long stalk. At full growth, a shoot has 2–4 clasping and curved, slightly succulent leaves with parallel venation. Some authors refer to C. borealis as Clinton's lily but that name may be more appropriate for the genus as a whole.Ĭlintonia borealis is a small (5–10 in) perennial plant, usually found in homogeneous colonies. Other less common names include corn lily, poisonberry, or snakeberry. Compound names such as yellow bead lily or yellow bluebead lily are also in use. Thus yellow clintonia is probably a better name for C. borealis since the adjective refers to the color of the plant's flower, a unique character among Clintonia species. However, the term can be misleading since all but one of the species in genus Clintonia have blue fruits (notably, the fruit of C. umbellulata is black). The term 'bluebead' refers to the plant's small blue spherical fruit, perhaps its most striking feature. Ĭlintonia borealis is commonly known as bluebead, bluebead lily, or yellow clintonia. The specific epithet borealis means 'of the north,' which alludes to the fact that the species tends to thrive in the boreal forests of eastern Canada and northeastern United States.

'macrostema' Raf.Ĭlintonia borealis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae.

Blue lily lily