A genus (including former Smilacina)of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Ruscaceae, native to North America, Central America, northern Europe, northern and eastern Asia, and the Himalaya.
They are rhizomatous understory herbaceous plants. The flowers have six tepals, reduced to four in M. canadense, M. bifolium and M. dilatatum.
Because of genetic similarity, similar fruits, and evidence that the 4-tepal species evolved from a 6-tepal species, the genus Smilacina was combined with Maianthemum in the late 20th century.[1] Smilacina was formerly included in the family Liliaceae.
