Name: Clintonia, after DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828), early naturalist and New York governor; borealis, from the Greek, boreios (boreios), "from the quarter of the North wind northern"; Blue Bead Lily, from the round, bright blue fruit.

Common Names: Clintonia, Clinton's Lily, Corn Lily, Cow's Tongue, Yellow Beadlily, Yellow Bluebeadlily.
Parts used: Leaf, root. Young leaves said to taste like cucumber and are chopped and added to salads, or boiled for 10 minutes and served with butter and seasonings. Older leaves become bitter.
Description: Perennial, also known as Dracaena borealis. A rhizomatus perennial lily, 6 "-16"; Leaves basal, leathery, shiny, not toothed, 2 or 3. Flowers bell-like, pale yellow, 3 to 8 on leafless stalk. Fruit is a bright round porcelain blue berry; mildly poisonous to humans. Flowers May/July.
Habitat: Open shade, cool woods. Moist sites in boreal and pine forest. Distributed throughout Northern North America, south in mountains. Difficult to grow where summer temperatures are substantially above 75 degrees. In appropriate environments, Clintonia provides an attractive ground cover. Benefits from a heavy winter mulch of mixed pine and deciduous leaves. Watch for slugs and snails.

Cultivation: Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF); Difficult to grow in the home garden.
Not readily available commercially.

Grows with: Black Spruce, Jack Pine, Red pine, White Pine, Bunchberry, Twinflower, Wild Sarsaparilla, Large Leaf Aster, Gold Thread, Bedstraws, Oak Fern, Canada Mayflower, Bishop's Cap, One Flowered Pyrola, Bracken Fern, One Sided Pyrola, Rose Twisted Stalk Starflower, Kidney Leaf Violet, Violets.
Propagation and Reproduction: Reproduces by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes division.

Constituents: The root contains anti-inflammatory and estrogenic diosgenin, from which progesterone, testosterone, and other hormones can be made in the laboratory.

Uses: It's anti-inflammatory and Native Americans used it to treat injuries of various kinds from bruises to burns and infections. A root tea was used as a tonic and to aid in childbirth. They poulticed fresh leaves on burns, old sores, bruises, infections, rabid-dog bites, and drank tea of the plant for heart medicine and diabetes. The root was used to aid labor in childbirth. Chipmunks and birds relish the berries.

Miscellaneous: Hunters are said to have rubbed their traps with the root because bears are attracted to the odor.

Caution:  Warning!!! Berries are poisonous if eaten. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person's age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant's different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.