Solomon's Seal - Polygonatum

Solomon's Seal starts to appear in the spring time with this arched stem, long oval leaves and then beautiful clusters of white flowers which, I have just noticed, have a green tip. It thrives in a shaded area of the garden on a poor quality soil and seemingly happy to colonise the area in recent years with its creeping rootstock. Solomon's Seal is said to be a very old plant and the root has been used for centuries to heal wounds, damaged tissue, hemorrhoids ........

Polygonatum refers to the many angled knots in the root, and the age of the plant can be estimated by looking at the root where each year it leaves a scar on the rhizome.