Native plants for a Cape Cod garden

While I do not have canada mayflower in my yard, there are several patches on my street and alongside other streets abutting woods and woodlands. I noticed the leaves of these plants last fall, and thought I was dealing with lilly of the valley. An easy mistake to make, in fact: The other name for this plant is false lilly of the valley. Now that Maianthemum canadense is in full bloom with little white blossoms perched on spikes the distinction is more easily made. This member of the Liliaceae is native to the subarctic North American boreal forests all the way down to Georgia on the east coast. Canada mayflower tends to send up its flowers before the leaves appear on the overhead trees. The plant produces berries which are edible. The fruits are bitter though, and may cause diarrhea in some individuals. The rest of the plant may be poisonous.

Canada mayflower roadside Weir Road May 28 2011