280 SMILACACEAE 
purple within, with a slender stipe-like base: sepals and petals 3-5 mm. long, ovate, 
spreading or reflexed : capsule somewhat berry-like, ovoid, 3-6 mm. long. 
In woods, Georgia to Florida and Alabama. Spring. 
FamMILy 9. SMILACACEAE Vent. SMILAX FAMILY. 
Perennial vines, with herbaceous or woody, smooth or armed stems. Leaves 
alternate : blades several-nerved and netted-veined, commonly punctate or lineo- 
late, articulated to the petioles, sometimes persistent : petiole persistent, com- 
monly bearing a pair of elongated appendages. Flowers dioecious, in axillary 
peduncled umbels. Perianth regular, usually green, that of the staminate flower 
larger than that of the pistillate. Sepals and petals 3 each, with spreading 
tips. Androecium of 6 stamens. Filaments distinct, inserted at the base of the 
perianth, flattened. Anthers 2-celled, introrse, attached at the base. Gynoecium 
of 3 united carpels, with the cavities opposite the petals. Stigmas 3, sessile. 
Ovules 1 or 2 in each cavity, orthotropous or half-anatropous. Fruit a berry. 
Seeds 1-6, with horny endosperm. Embryo remote from the hilum. 
Stems herbaceous, annual, unarmed : ovules 2 in each ovary-cavity. 1. NEMEXIA. 
Stems woody, perennial, prickly: ovule solitary in each ovary-cavity. 2. SMILAX. 
1. NEMÉXIA Raf. 
Unarmed vines, with knotted or tuberous rootstocks and annual stems. Leaf-blades 
membranous, broad, sometimes hastate. Umbels on long and slender peduncles.  Pedicels 
inserted in small pits in a conic or globose receptacle. Stamens 6, more or less reduced in 
pistillate flowers. Ovary 3-celled, wanting in staminate flowers. Ovules 2 in each cavity. 
Berry blue-black, with 3 bands of stengthening tissue running through the pulp and con- 
nected at the base and the apex. Sminax. ‘The plants flower in the spring or rarely 
in early summer. 
Plants without tendrils: stem erect, relatively short, simple: leaves approximate at the top of the stem, 
Leaf-blades pubescent beneath, thin during anthesis: anthers shorter than the filaments. 
Sepals of the staminate flowers obovate or oblanceolate: leaf-blades acute or short-acuminate: 
berries not glaucous. 1. N. ecirrhata. 
Sepals of the staminate flowers oblong: leaf-blades broadly rounded and ob- 
tuse or abruptly pointed at the apex : berries glaucous 2. N. Hugeri. 
Leaf-blades wholly glabrous and glaucous beneath, thick during anthesis: an- 
thers longer than the filaments. 3. N. Biltmoreana. 
Plants furnished with tendrils: stems elongated, climbing. 
Leaf-blades pubescent beneath. 
Peduncles fully twice as long as the subtending bracts, which are wholly dif- 
ferent from the leaves. 4. N. diversifolia. 
Peduncles shorter than the subtending bracts or slightly longer: leaves and 
braets alike. 
Leaf-blades ovate or elliptic-ovate: peduncles stout: sepals and petals of 
the staminate flowers about 5 mm. long. 5. N. pulverulenta. 
Leaf-blades triangular-ovate: peduncles filiform: sepals and petals of the 
staminate flowers 2.5 mm. long. 6. N. tenuis. 
Leaf-blades glabrous beneath. 
Peduncles becoming much longer than the subtending bracts: leaf-blades 
prominently 7-9-nerved. 7. N. herbacea. 
Peduncles shorter than the subtending braets or slightly longer: leaf-blades i 
prominently 5-nerved. 8. N. tamnifolia. 
1. Nemexia ecirrhàta ( Engelm. ) Small. Stems 3-6 dm. tall: leaf-blades ovate, 8-12 
cm. long, acute or short-acuminate, pubescent beneath, but not especially so on the ribs 
and the veins, prominently ribbed in age: sepals of the staminate flowers obovate or ob- 
lanceolate, 4-5 mm. long: berries globular, purple-black, 9-11 mm. in diameter. 
In woods, Minnesota to the Indian Territory, Illinois and Arkansas. 
2. Nemexia Hügeri Small. Stems 2-5 dm. tall: leaf-blades oblong-oval, 9-14 cm. 
long, broadly rounded and obtuse or abruptly pointed at the apex, pubescent beneath, es- 
pecially on the ribs and the veins, prominently ribbed in age: sepals of the staminate 
flowers oblong, 3-4 mm. long: berries globular, glaucous, 8-10 mm. in diameter. 
In woods, Tennessee to North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. 
