Lily of the valley

Convallaria majalis

Asparagaceae

A sweet May bell that is a foxglove cousin — perfume, not a homemade heart drop.

Common shade groundcover. Cardiac glycosides related to digitalis. Legal ornamental.

Parts used: None for self-care.
Traditional notes: Obsolete heart drops — superseded by measured digitalis drugs
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–8. Spreads by rhizome. If you plant it, label the bed. Do not let children drink from the vase. In work: Apr · May
Harvest: Do not harvest for medicine.

A north-bed colonizer. Teach the household: look, do not chew.
Vase water is not a drink and not a pet bowl.
Convallaria has been mistaken for wild garlic. That error is a hospital.

Safety

All medicinal self-use

Lookalikes

Garlic — Two-leaved shade plants in spring. One is soup. The other is a cardiac glycoside that looks like a lily and smells of nothing useful.

Lore

Convallaria, May bells. A cardiac glycoside cousin of foxglove in a plant people plant beside front walks. The scent is famous; the berries are a poison-garden teaching tool.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.