True Solomon's-seal

Something amazing happened overnight: after the US Drought Monitor had tipped our region quickly into the Moderate Drought category—exceedingly early for a typical year, during which significant dry weather doesn't pay us a visit until late summer—it actually started to rain for the first time in nearly a month. Thank you, June! I was too inundated with writing to put on a poncho and go out for my usual walk, so I had to content myself with a quick stroll through the back yard and the minor gardens I've managed to carve out of the woods. Because I'm loathe to cut down many of our trees, we're shade specialists, and one of my favorite plants is a garden variety of Solomon's- seal: the so-called "true" species, which has paired, bell-like flowers underneath the leaves, as opposed to the "false" species, which, according to the Peterson wildflower guide, "is tipped with a spirea-like cluster" of tiny flowers. They're both blooming now, and, in addition to putting on a charming floral display, the leaves look gorgeous when they've beaded up with rain.