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Maianthemum
Family: Asparagaceae
Maianthemum image
Max Licher  
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Frederick H. Utech in Flora of North America (vol. 26)
Outside the flora area, Maianthemum may be epiphytic, with foliage stems pendent or erect; two species are dioecious; tepals may be fused, the perianth campanulate; and tepals and anthers may be pink, green, or violet. The two species of Maianthemum that bear 4-tepaled flowers, M. canadense and M. dilatatum, are very similar to one another and to the boreal Eurasian species M. bifolium (Linnaeus) F. W. Schmidt, and the three have sometimes been considered varieties of a single species. In most recent floristic works, the genus Maianthemum has been limited to these three species because of their reduced flowers, whereas the remaining species, which bear 6-tepaled flowers more typical of the Liliaceae, have been placed in the genus Smilacina. J. V. LaFrankie (1986) placed all the species in a single genus. The monophyly of Maianthemum sensu lato is supported by morphological consistencies including baccate fruits that are marked when immature, a consistent and unique karyotype (S. Kawano and H. H. Iltis 1966; S. Kawano et al. 1967; N. H. Valentine and H. M. Hassan 1971; M. N. Tamura 1995), and molecular analysis (P. J. Rudall et al. 2000; J. Yamashita and M. N. Tamura 2000). The 2-merous floral condition in Maianthemum sensu stricto is the result of anatomical reduction from the 3-merous state (F. H. Utech and S. Kawano 1976).

Vascular plants of NE US and adjacent Canada
Tep 4, distinct, spreading; stamens 4, hypogynous; filaments slender; anthers introrse; ovary bilocular, with 2-lobed style and 2 ovules per locule; berry globose, 1-2-seeded; low herbs from a slender rhizome, the erect stem with a few lvs and a short terminal raceme of small white fls. 3, N. Temp.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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Show all taxa
Maianthemum bifolium
Image of Maianthemum bifolium
Maianthemum canadense
Image of Maianthemum canadense
Maianthemum comaltepecense
Image of Maianthemum comaltepecense
Maianthemum dahuricum
Image of Maianthemum dahuricum
Maianthemum dilatatum
Image of Maianthemum dilatatum
Maianthemum fuscum
Images
not available
Maianthemum gigas
Image of Maianthemum gigas
Maianthemum gongshanensis
Images
not available
Maianthemum japonicum
Image of Maianthemum japonicum
Maianthemum kamtschaticum
Images
not available
Maianthemum macrophyllum
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not available
Maianthemum mexicanum
Image of Maianthemum mexicanum
Maianthemum paniculatum
Image of Maianthemum paniculatum
Maianthemum racemosum
Image of Maianthemum racemosum
Maianthemum scilloideum
Image of Maianthemum scilloideum
Maianthemum septifolium
Image of Maianthemum septifolium
Maianthemum stellatum
Image of Maianthemum stellatum
Maianthemum trifolium
Image of Maianthemum trifolium
The National Science Foundation
Developments of SEINet, Symbiota, and associated specimen databases have been supported by National Science Foundation Grants (DBI 9983132, BRC 0237418, DBI 0743827, DBI 0847966)