Clintonia umbellulata

Clintonia umbellulata

Photograph courtesy of John Pickering

Gwendolyn M. Motz
gwen@arches.uga.edu

Ecology Student
Chemistry and Biochemistry major
University of Georgia
Athens

Common Names The C. umbellulata is more commonly known as the Speckled Wood Lily, Wood Lily or the White Clintoia (1) (2).

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Higher Taxa

Class: Monocotyledones (monocots)
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae (also called the Lily family)
Subfamily: undetermined
Tribe: undetermined
Genus: Clintonia (also known as the Bead Lilies)
Species: umbellulata

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Identification The White Clintonia, or Speckled Wood Lily, ranges in height from 8" to 20" (3). The Speckled Wood Lily commonly "has a whorl of 3 or 4 leaves very much like" the Yellow Clintonia, or Clintonia borealis (1). The leaves are usually oval and may be "used in salads or as a pot herb"(3) and may be eaten raw or cooked (please see the Plants For a Future Database, http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk). In addition, if the plants are "harvested in [the] spring before they fully unfurl, they [will] have a cucumber flavor" (6).

The wild flower usually has many white flowers that are lightly speckled with purple and green, hence the name Speckled Wood Lily (1). The Speckled Wood Lily may have "up to thirty flowers on a stem" (2). The sepals and petals are "only about 1/3 inch long" (2), while the flower is approximately 0.5" long (3). In general, the flower regularly contains 3 sepals and 3 petals of the same size and color, forming a bell-shaped corolla, 6 stamens, and 1 pistil (3) The flowers are in bloom from May to July (3).

Upon pollination, the flowers develop into "a cluster of round, shiny dark blue or black berries that are often more conspicuous than the small flowers" (3). The berries are appromately 6-8mm long (4). Mature seeds generally contain 2 seeds (5).

**Due to a lack of knowledgeable sources, the authority who described the species, the holotype speciman, and an identification key for the species were unable to be found.

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Geography The Speckled Wood Lily is found within woodlands at lower altitudes (1). More specifically, the wild flower is found in the mountains from New York to Ohio and as far south as in the northern Georgia and Tennessee mountains (1). http://www.bio.utk.edu

Similar maps of Georgia and the Carolinas locating the Clintonia umbellulata can be found in sources Jones and Coile, 1988 (7) and Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968 (4).

Clintonia umbellulata
AREA	STATUS	REFERENCES
North America: Continental United States; Canada	Yes	Grimm, 1993 (1)
Eastern North America: United States east of Mississippi: Ontario and eastern Canada	Yes	Grimm, 1993 (1)
Southeastern United States: AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Yes	Grimm, 1993 (1)
Southern Appalachian States: AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Yes	Grimm, 1993 (1)
Coastal Plain	Not likely	No information
Piedmont	Not likely	No information
Blue Ridge Mountains	Yes	Jones and Coile, 1988 (7)
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest	Yes	Personal Observation (5/28/99)
Georgia	Yes	Jones and Coile, 1988 (7)
Clarke County, Georgia	No	Jones and Coile, 1988 (7)

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Natural History The Clintonia umbellulata prefers a "damp peaty sandy soil in a cool shady position" (6); this is why the plant is most commonly found in the mountains from New York to Ohio and as far south as the Northern Georgia and Tenessee mountains (1). The wild flower prefers soil that is slightly moist and in a pH range of neutral to acidic (6). In addition, the seed is "best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame" and it usually germinates in the spring (6). As previously described in the "Identification Section," the flower are generally in bloom from May to July (3).

**Additional information on the population dynamics, life-cycle, and seasonal activities was unable to be found.

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How to Encounter The lightly speckled purple and green flowers are generally in bloom between May to July within the woodlands over lower altitude regions (3); therefore, that appears to be the best time to start looking for the exotic wildflower. The flowers are located from Ohio to New York and as far south as the northern Georgia and Tenessee mountains (1). The flowers prefer relatively low altitude regions of the forest (3). In addition, the wildflower prefers damp and shady soil, so the best place to look for the place is on the flower of a old, thick forest (6).

The Clintonia umbellulata observed within the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, which is located in the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina, was found early on in a steep mountain hike on the "Naked Trail" in late May (Personal Observation). The observed flower was found by itself near the trail on the bottom of the forest. The flower hid next to a tall shading tree in an old growth forest.

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References 1) Grimm, William C. The Illustrated Book of Wildflowers and Shrubs . Stackpole Books Publishers: Harrisburg, PA;

1993, p. 56. 2) Rickett, Harold W. Wildflowers of the United States: The Southeastern States. William C. Steere, ed. McGraw-Hill

Book Company: New York, NewYork. p. 44. 3) Klimas, John E. and James A. Cunningham. Wildflowers of Eastern America. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.:

New York, New York, 1974. p. 46. 4) Radford, Albert E., Ahles, Harry E. and C. Ritchie Bell, Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University

of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 1968. p.40-41. 5) Duncan, Wilbur H., and Leonard E. Foote, Wildflowers of the Southeatern United States. The University of Georgia

Press: Athens, Georgia. 1975. p. 254. 6) http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf-cgi/arr_html?Clintonia+umbellulata

7) Jones, Samuel and Coile, Nancy C. The Distribution of the Vascular Flora of Georgia. The University of Georgia

(Department of Botany) Press: Athens, Georgia. 1988. p. 44.

8) http://www.bio.utk.edu/botany/herbarium/vascular/atlas/ monocots/liliaceae/clintonia-umbellulata.html

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**Please note: due to the lack of knowledgeable sources some information (such as the location of the holotype and the full scientific name) was unable to be found.

If you have any questions or concerns, please send me an e-mail message and I would be happy to help!