Lily of the Valley
Convallaria majalis
The sweetest smell in the woodland. The most dangerous thing in the garden.
Overview
Lily of the valley is acutely toxic. Every part of it — the flowers that smell of the most delicate, irreducible spring; the broad, glossy leaves; the small red berries that ripen after the flowers have gone; even the water in which a vase of cut flowers has stood — contains cardiac glycosides that interfere with the heart's electrical conduction in a manner similar to digitalis, but faster and less predictable. It is planted in gardens throughout the temperate world and appears in woodland from Devon to Japan as if it has been there since before gardens existed. It is used in wedding bouquets — Kate Middleton carried it, as did Grace Kelly — and it is presented at May Day festivals in France, bouquets sold on street corners in a tradition that has run without interruption since 1560. None of these traditions mention that it could kill you. They have never needed to.
Botanical Notes
A rhizomatous perennial forming spreading colonies, with two or three broadly elliptical, glossy, dark green leaves emerging from ground level each spring. The flowering stem is separate, bearing a one-sided raceme of small, pendulous, bell-shaped white flowers with a scent of extraordinary delicacy and penetration from April to June. Berries are round, ripening from green to red-orange in late summer. Found in dry deciduous woodland, particularly under beech, on chalk and limestone; also widely naturalised in gardens throughout Europe and North America. The cardiac glycosides — convallatoxin, convalloside, and over 30 others — act on the same sodium-potassium ATPase mechanism as digitalis but are not the same compounds and do not respond to the same antidotes.
Lore & History
In the Christian tradition, lily of the valley is called Our Lady's tears — the drops shed by the Virgin at the Crucifixion — and is the birth flower of May. In Norse mythology it grew on the stairs of Ostara, the spring goddess. The French tradition of offering muguet (lily of the valley) on the first of May was formalised by Charles IX in 1561, who received a sprig as a lucky charm and began giving it to the ladies of his court each year. The tradition has run without interruption ever since; on the first of May in France, muguet vendors appear on every street corner and the trade is specifically exempted from rules requiring a licence to sell flowers. The association of a lethal plant with luck, spring, and royal favour is exactly the kind of paradox the old botanical world took in its stride.
Warnings
Acutely toxic. All parts, and the water from cut flower arrangements, contain cardiac glycosides that cause nausea, vomiting, bradycardia, heart block, and potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Do not grow where children or animals have unsupervised access — the red berries are attractive. Do not confuse with wild garlic when foraging — lily of the valley lacks the garlic smell entirely. There is no safe internal use. Seek emergency medical attention immediately if any part is ingested.