Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lily of the valley Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsidae Order: Liliales Family: Liliaceae Genus: Convallaria Species: majalis Binomial name Convallaria majalis Lily of the valley is a flowering plant of the Convallaria genus. (synonyms: May lily, May bells, Our Lady's tears, Convall-lily, Lily Constancy, ladder-to-Heaven, Jacob's Ladder, male lily, muguet) This richly fragrant groundcover, flowering in late spring with plump pendant bells on an arching raceme, is a widespread native in North America, Europe and temperate Asia. Found mainly in shadowed gardens in the northern hemisphere. A less robust, shell-pink flowering form is sometimes seen in gardens. Leaves and flowers contain cardiac glycosides that have been used in medicine for centuries. In overdose preparations can be poisonous. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.