rose twisted-stalk

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FAC - Facultative

FAC - Facultative

FACU - Facultative upland

The stem is hairy, branching, twisted, and jointed at the leaf axils giving it a zigzag appearance.

Upper leaves are stalkless and may be slightly clasping. Larger leaves, those below the branch, may be strongly clasping. The underside is pale but is not covered with a whitish, waxy coating (glaucous). The leaf margins have a fringe of hairs that is visible to the naked eye.

The flowers hang singly on stems up to 2″ long that are twisted or have an abrupt bend in the middle. They have 3 petals and 3 petal-like sepals (tepals) that turn backward only at the tip. The tepals are pink or maroon.

The fruit is a bright red, more or less round berry.

12″ to 36″

Pink

Smooth Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum) is a taller plant, reaching up to 48″ at maturity. The stems are hairless, unbranched, and do not zigzag. The leaves sometimes clasp the stem. The leaves have 7 to 19, parallel veins. The inflorescences are small clusters of 2 to 15 cylinder-shaped flowers. The peduncles are not strongly bent backward. The fruits are dark blue-violet when mature.

Moderate moisture. Forests.

June to July

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Family
GRIN places the gemus Streptopus in the subfamily Calochortoideae. The latest classification of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, APG IV, places Streptopus in the subfamily Streptopoideae.

Species
This species was formerly named Streptopus roseus. In 1993 the species and its varieties were reclassified as Streptopus lanceolatus.

Plant

Leaves