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- Named after the former governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, the clintonia blossoms from May through to July in the cool woods; it is of the lily family. "Two or three yellowish green bells rise on a leafless stalk above 2 or 3 broad, shining basal leaves..." Each flower consists of three sepals and are grouped 3-6 in an umbel. The leaves are tulip like, "parallel-veined leaves are oval to elliptical and wrap around each other at the base of the plant." (Griffin.) The plant produces in the place of the flowers two or three deep-blue, berries.
The very young leaves, we read in Griffin, might be used as eatable greens, but they become bitter as they become older (just like some people I know). The berries are poisonous. "Hunters used to rub their traps with the roots because bears are attracted to the odor." (Griffin.)
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Peter Landry2011 (2019)
- Named after the former governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, the clintonia blossoms from May through to July in the cool woods; it is of the lily family. "Two or three yellowish green bells rise on a leafless stalk above 2 or 3 broad, shining basal leaves..." Each flower consists of three sepals and are grouped 3-6 in an umbel. The leaves are tulip like, "parallel-veined leaves are oval to elliptical and wrap around each other at the base of the plant." (Griffin.) The plant produces in the place of the flowers two or three deep-blue, berries.