Lily of the Valley

Lily of the valley is a low woodland perennial of Europe and of western and northern Asia that creeps by underground rhizomes into broad colonies. Each shoot bears two wide leaves and, in late spring, a one-sided spray of six to twelve small, nodding white bells with a sweet scent, followed by little orange-red berries. Gardeners plant it as ground cover in shade, and it has long been forced in pots for flowers in winter. No natural extract can be drawn from the flower, so perfumes such as Dior's Diorissimo copy its scent synthetically. The English name echoes the 'lily of the valleys' of the Song of Songs, whose Latin wording also gave Linnaeus the genus name. It is Finland's national flower, is sold in France on the first of May and is worn at Helston on Flora Day. Across Europe it was gathered at Beltane to dress maypoles and offered as a love token, and in France a sprig worn or given on May Day was meant to bring a year of luck. A legend has the flowers springing up from the blood of a dragon slain by Saint Leonard, while in Ireland bringing them indoors was thought unlucky. In magical practice the flowers are set in a room to raise the spirits of those present, and are used to sharpen the memory and the mind.