# "blue" berry plants (NOT BLUEBERRIES) in Minnesota **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603 "2017-08-14T02:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/1 "2017-08-14T02:33:49Z")
I was recently in the Boundary Waters, and noted a plant with blue berries, that were clearly not blueberry plants. The berries were on a stalk about a foot high and the leaves were low to the ground. ANy ideas? Googling ‘blue’ berries or anything of the sort is not working. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/2 "2017-08-14T03:08:25Z")
How do the fruits grow? One to a stalk or more? What kind of blue, light or dark? What did the leaves look like? Were there leaves on the fruiting stalks? ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/3 "2017-08-14T03:57:25Z")
I have wildflowers in my yard that produce a single shiny darkish blue seed pod per stalk that some could mistake for a blueberry. The leaves are similar to lily of the valley. False Solomon’s Seal comes to mind but I’ll have to do a bit of sleuthing. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/4 "2017-08-14T04:11:34Z")
linkie [https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/false-solomon’s-seal-false-spikenard](https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/false-solomon%E2%80%99s-seal-false-spikenard) False Solomon’s Seal has red berries. Solomon’s Seal has dark blue. Mine are in a mishmash bed of wildflowers so I still may be wrong on the id. Once the flowers fade I can’t tell one plant from another. But one of them definitely has blue berries. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/5 "2017-08-14T17:43:48Z")
Blue Bead Lilly > **[Clintonia borealis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clintonia_borealis)** > > Clintonia borealis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The specific epithet borealis means "of the north," which alludes to the fact that the species tends to thrive in the boreal forests of eastern Canada and northeastern United States. > Clintonia borealis is commonly known as bluebead, bluebead lily, or yellow clintonia. The term "bluebead" refers to the plant's small blue spherical fruit, perhaps its most striking feature. However, the term can be misleading since a... ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/6 "2017-08-14T19:02:54Z")
Yes;) 😉 I was looking for something with white flowers; no wonder I couldn’t find it. I do have False Solomon’s Seal, too. That was a silly answer, as the leaves and flowers are totally different.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/7 "2017-08-15T03:25:10Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Blue Bead Lilly > [Clintonia borealis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clintonia_borealis) I’m late to the party, but yes, that’s what I would have suspected. I grew up in Manitoba and my family did a lot of camping near Lake of the Woods when I was growing up. That plant is all over the place in the boreal forest. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-berry-plants-not-blueberries-in-minnesota/793603/8 "2017-08-15T05:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sigene] Blue Bead Lilly > **[Clintonia borealis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clintonia_borealis)** > > Clintonia borealis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The specific epithet borealis means "of the north," which alludes to the fact that the species tends to thrive in the boreal forests of eastern Canada and northeastern United States. > Clintonia borealis is commonly known as bluebead, bluebead lily, or yellow clintonia. The term "bluebead" refers to the plant's small blue spherical fruit, perhaps its most striking feature. However, the term can be misleading since a... [/QUOTE] > [@MikeS](#): > > I’m late to the party, but yes, that’s what I would have suspected. I grew up in Manitoba and my family did a lot of camping near Lake of the Woods when I was growing up. That plant is all over the place in the boreal forest. On a related note, this thread reminds of [this scene from “Taxi”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_bEXeTwrC8).