Description

General - a slender, erect, perennial herb from very slender, branching, whitish rhizomes; stems erect, slender, weak, growing up to 20 cm tall (sometimes to 30 cm).

Leaves - alternate, three, 3 - 13 cm long (usually 4 - 10 cm), oval to oblong-lance-shaped, hairless.

Flowers - in long-stalked, unbranched clusters at stem tips; white to greenish white; appearing in early-summer.

Fruit - dark red berries, up to 6 mm wide; ripening in mid-summer.

Habitat

Bogs, swamps, fens and moist woods and openings; often with sphagnum moss; widespread across boreal forest, north and west to Great Bear Lake and northern B.C.

Notes

The genus name Smilacina is the diminutive form of Smilax, another genus of the lily family. Trifolia means 'three-leaved', and refers to the 3 stem leaves commonly found on these plants.

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