Wild Lily-of-the-Valley Leaves

One of the nicest treats of a PEI spring is harvesting your own fresh, local food after a winter of stored root vegetables and imported fare. Fiddleheads, dandelions, cat-tails, dock, watercress, and magnolia – along with pheasant back and morel mushrooms if you can find them – are all in season right now. But if you’re looking for something new, give Wild Lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense) a try.

Followers of my blog may remember that I introduced you to this plant’s fruit last fall (https://www.pei-untamed.com/post/wild-lily-of-the-valley). Wild Lily-of-the-valley’s berries ripen in September and October, and taste a bit like sweetened, dried cranberries. This time of year, it’s the fresh, young leaves you’re after, and they taste very much like mild pea pods.

It’s important to know that Wild Lily-of-the-Valley is NOT the same as the popular garden plant of the same name. The sweet-smelling European Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis) contains toxic cardiac glycosides that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and irregular heartbeat; consuming any part of that plant could be fatal. It’s not unusual for different plants to share similar common names, which is why it’s important to use a plant’s correct scientific name when looking for information about how (or if!) to use it. Please don’t eat Convallaria majalis.

Our native Wild Lily-of-the-Valley is a common forest plant, but it can also be found in grassy or mossy forest edges, bogs, and even dune slacks (the low, wet areas between sand dune ridges). When I’m looking for spring greens to harvest, I check areas where forests border open areas, including along the Confederation Trail and other public-use areas. (I don’t recommend foraging among sensitive sand dunes!).

Look for low-growing, oval leaves that are hairless on top, have smooth (untoothed) edges, and parallel veins running from base to tip. There’s one leaf per stem on vegetative plants; two or three on those that will flower. Wild Lily-of-the-valley spreads vegetatively by rhizomes, so removing some leaves won’t harm the patch. That said, sustainability is always important, and I aim to take no more than one leaf for every 10-20 that I find.

Wild Lily-of-the-valley leaves are best enjoyed raw and make a nice addition to salads and sandwiches. You can harvest them later in the summer as well, but they become tougher and a bit bitter as they age. Now is the best time to try this spring flavour from PEI Untamed!