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Liliaceae Family - "False Solomon's Seal, Golden Seal, Job's Tears, Solomon's Plume, Treacle Berry, Wild Spikenard, Zigzag"

Smilacina comes from a Greek word meaning "small and thorny"; a misnomer because this plant has no thorns but it resembles the genus Smilax, which does. Racemosa comes from the latin and means "having a raceme". This doubtless refers to the fact that the flowers occur in a raceme - along the end of the main stem on short flower stalks.

Found throughout the northern area of the Tallgrass biome in cool woodlands with a lot of moisture. Creamy, star-shaped flowers bloom from May to July. Long leaves with very short petioles, they can reach 3 feet in height. The ruby-red berries that appear after the flowers are gone are completely edible with a bittersweet taste similar to molasses or treacle (one of the common names for this plant comes from that).

Extensive use of False Solomon's seal by Native Americans included preparing the rootstock like potatoes to serve as a food staple. The blackfeet dried the roots and pulverized them to make a powder for stopping profuse bleeding. A smudge prepared from False Solomon's Seal was used to calm a restless child, treat convulsions or insanity, or to produce other tranquilizing effects.

The plant also served early settlers well in serving as a treatment for headaches and sore throats. They occasinally referred to the fruit as "scurvy berries" and probably ate it during lean times to ward off that disease. In some parts of the country, the young shoots were eaten like asparagus. Pioneer folk medicine also claimed this plant could be used to treat human plague and hog cholera.