False Lily-of-the-Valley

False lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum dilatatum) is another plant that grows in abundance in the redwood forest and some other areas. It seems to like shade. Sometimes it covers the ground like a thick green carpet. It seems to grow in groups, like sorrel: I have not seen any isolated plant. This lily has beautiful shiny rounded leaves with a distinctive corner. In fact, the leaves look a lot like wild ginger. Unfortunately as for the moment of this writing I was not able to find any wild ginger and photograph it, but when I do, be assured that I will post a picture as soon as I find one, as I have read that wild ginger grows in the redwood forest. The leaves of ginger are not shiny though but matte.

So this is the carpet that false lily-of-the-valley forms on the forest floor:

False lily-of-the-valley

And here's a close-up of the plants. The plant just started to bloom so I don't have a picture of the flowers yet.

False lily-of-the-valley (close-up)

False lily-of-the-valley used to belong to lily family (Liliaceae). It does not look much like (real) lily-of-the-valley, though there is some similarities in leaves. The flowers are totally different. However phylogenetic research moved the plant to the Asparagus family (Asparagaceae).