This week I chose to look at False Lily of the Valley. I was curious to explore this plant because I know a lot about Lily of the Valley because it is my birth flower, but I was curious why this one was considered “false”.

After some research, I realized that False Lily of the Valley is native to BC while Lily of the Valley comes from Europe. False Lily of the Valley grows in coastal temperate rainforests and is often the dominant plant on the ground cover of Sitka Spruce forests.

The plant itself has heart shaped waxy leaves and a flowering stalk with a row of star shaped flowers. These flowers bloom in mid to late summer and once pollinated, these flowers turn to bright red berries.

Something that I have found helpful in my inquiry project recently is an app you can get on your phone called “iNaturalist“. In this app you can take a picture of a certain plant and it will identify it for you. It will also tell you where this plant has been spotted in the general area. Additionally, you are able to search a plant that you are looking for and it will tell you where you can find that plant in the area. This app has been a lot of fun to play around with and I am excited to use it as a useful tool for my future inquiry posts!