The genus Clintonia is morphologicallydiverse.[3] Species are herbaceousperennial plants growing from rhizomatousunderground stems with thin, fibrous roots. They grow from 1.5 to 8 dm tall. They have 2 to 6 basal leaves arising from the rhizome crown, the basal leaves are sessile and sheathing, and the cauline leaves have a stalk. The blade of each leaf has a prominent central vein and entire margins, and the bottom ends are obovate to oblanceolate in shape. The leaf apex is acute to abruptly short-acuminate, often mucronate (ending abruptly in a short sharp point). The inflorescences are terminal, and the flowers are arranged into short racemes or umbel-like clusters, with 1 to 45 flowers. The flowers have 6 tepals with nectaries present. The stamens are inserted at the base of the perianth, and the anthers are oblong-obovate to oblong-linear shaped. The rounded to cylinder shaped ovary is superior with two chambers (sometime three). Each chamber produces 2 to 10 ovules. The smooth fruits are berry-like, round to egg-shaped, metallic blue to black in color. Four to thirty seeds are produced in each fruit and the seeds are shiny brown, round and the ends are angled with 2 or 3 faces.[9][10][3]
Inflorescence 3–12-flowered, in one or more short, terminal racemes
(3)
+
Inflorescence 10–45-flowered, in one or more umbel-like clusters
(4)
3 (2)
Inflorescence 3–8(–10)-flowered, in short, terminal racemes; tepals yellow to yellowish green, 12–16 mm long; filaments 12–17.5 mm long; anthers 2–3.5 mm long; berries ultramarine blue, 8–16-seeded; eastern North America
Inflorescence 3–12-flowered, in short, terminal racemes; tepals white, sometimes bluish, 7–12 mm long; stamens 4–6(–8) mm long; berries blackish blue, many-seeded; eastern Asia
Inflorescence 20–45-flowered, in a terminal umbel-like cluster, usually with one or more lateral clusters; tepals claret red, 10–18 mm long; filaments 7–10 mm long; anthers 1.8–2.8 mm long; berries blue to bluish black, 10–30-seeded; California, Oregon
Inflorescence 10–25(–30)-flowered, in terminal umbel-like cluster (no lateral clusters); tepals white, often spotted purplish brown or green distally, 5.5–8 mm long; filaments 5.5–7 mm long; anthers 3.5–5.5 mm long; berries black, 2–4-seeded; eastern United States
Inflorescence single-flowered (occasionally 2–flowered); tepals creamy white, 18–25 mm long; filaments 11–18 mm long; anthers 3.5–5.5 mm long; berries deep lustrous blue, 10–18-seeded; western North America
The species C. borealis is also known to occur on the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon,[16] a French territory near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Clintonia species are cultivated as garden subjects in shade gardens, grown for the glossy foliage, small lily-like flowers, and blue fruits, and their ability to live in heavy shade. They grow best in cool, organic-rich, acid soils that retain moisture and when grown well form dense slowly spreading clumps.[18]
^ abc"Clintonia Raf". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
^"Clintonia". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
^Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel (1818). "Flora Americae Septentrionalis, or a systematic arrangement and description of the plants of North America by Frederick Pursh". Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 2 (3): 170–176.
^Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel (1832). "Clintonia borealis". Atlantic Journal, and Friend of Knowledge. 1 (3): 120. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Clintonia". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
^Meyer, Rachelle S. (2005). "Clintonia uniflora". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
Hayashi, Kazuhiko; Yoshida, Seiji; Utech, Frederick H.; Kawano, Shoichi (August 2001). "Molecular systematics in the genus Clintonia and related taxa based on rbcL and matK gene sequence data". Plant Species Biology. 16 (2): 119–137. doi:10.1046/j.1442-1984.2001.00057.x.