Tag Archives: Polygonatum pubescens

Solomon’s Seal — Polygonatum species

Giant Solomon's Seal flowers (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum)
Giant Solomon’s Seal flowers (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum)

Solomon’s Seal (genus Polygonatum) is a really cool native plant of eastern and central North America. It is in the asparagus family, Asparagaceae. The young shoots are edible raw or cooked just as garden asparagus — they are mucilaginous but flavorful and nutritive. The flower blossoms are a real delicacy — tender and sweet. Even the rhizome has been used as a human staple food rich in starch. It is from the rhizome that we get the common name “Solomon’s Seal.” Somewhere down the line, somebody thought that the indented “seals” left behind on the rootstock from last year’s shoots had the quality of a royal stamp to them, so they named the plant King Solomon’s Seal. Go figure! But the name has stuck.

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