Maianthemum paniculatum

May Lily Asparagaceae

This is Maianthemum with a distinctly tropical passport — and it has rather more ambition than our familiar woodland forms. A handsome rhizomatous perennial, Maianthemum paniculatum is native to Mexico through Central America to western Panama, where it grows in montane and seasonally dry forests. Unlike most of the Maianthemum encountered in cultivation, it can also behave as an epiphyte, an intriguing adaptation for a member of a genus usually associated with the forest floor. 

It produces upright or arching, leafy stems, with ovate to elliptic, pointed leaves arranged along their length. The flowers are borne in impressive, much-branched panicles of numerous small white, starry flowers, considerably more elaborate than those of M. bifolium or M. canadense. The flowers are followed by rounded berries, green and often mottled when young, eventually ripening bright red. 

There is an interesting taxonomic history here: it was originally described as Smilacina paniculata in 1842 and has subsequently appeared under several Smilacina and Tovaria names. The combination Maianthemum paniculatum was established by LaFrankie in 1986 and is the name currently accepted by Kew. 

Grow in partial shade, in fertile, humus-rich soil with good drainage and reliable moisture during active growth. Given its Central American origins, it is considerably less hardy than our northern Maianthemum and is best treated as a sheltered or conservatory plant in Britain unless grown in an exceptionally mild garden.

Height: 60–100cm
Spread: 40–70cm
Flowering: May–August
Fruiting: Summer–autumn
Hardiness: H3–H4, approximately -10 to -5°C
Position: Partial shade
Soil: Fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil
Habit: Rhizomatous perennial; occasionally epiphytic in the wild