256 LILIACEx (Baker). [ Asparagus. 
I, SMILAX, Linn. 
Flowers dicecious. Perianth-segments distinct, subequal. Male 
flower: Stamens 6, inserted at the base of the perianth-segments ; 
filaments filiform ; anthers erect, dehiscing introrsely. Rudimentary 
pistil none. Female flower: Staminodia 6, filiform. Ovary sessile, 
ovoid, 3-celled ; ovules 1—2 in a cell, pendulous, orthotropous ; style 
() or short ; stigmas 3. Berry globose, often by abortion 1—2-seeded. 
Seed globose; testa thin, adpressed; albumen horny; embryo 
minute. 
Rootstock often large; stems usually woody and sarmentose, often prickly ; 
leaves alternate, with a pair of spiral tendrils at the base of the petiole ; venation 
reticulated ; flowers of both sexes in umbels, small, greenish. 
Distris. Cosmopolitan. Species nearly 200. 
1. 8. kraussiana (Meisn. in Flora, 1845, 312); stems slender, 
woody, glabrous, many-ribbed, often armed with minute prickles ; 
leaves alternate ; petiole }-} in. long, with a pair of firm, spirally- 
curled tendrils at the base; blade oblong, moderately firm in texture, 
3-4 in. long, 5-nerved, rounded or obscurely cordate at the base, 
acute or obtuse with a cusp; flowers in copious dense axillary © 
umbels ; pedicels short, furnished with a pair of persistent ovate- 
amplexicaul obtuse bracteoles about the middle; pedicels rather 
longer than the flowers; perianth 4 in. long; segments obtuse, 
tecurved from about the middle ; stamens shorter than the perianth ; 
anthers oblong, much shorter than the filaments; berry globose, the 
size of a pea ; pedicel } in. long, articulated at the apex. Kunth, 
Enum. v. 242 ; A.D.C. Monog. Phanerog. i. 171 ; Baker in Trans. 
Linn, Soc. xxix. 162, ¢. 106. S. morsaniana, Kunth, Enum. v. 241. 
S. mossambicensis, Garcke in Peters’ Reise Mozamb. Bot. 518. 
Katawari Region: Transvaal; in woods around Barberton, 3000-4500 ft., 
Galpin, 728! 
Eastern Region: Natal; in woods near Durban, Cooper, 2035! Inanda, 
Wood, 594! Port Natal, under 500 ft., Drage, 4503! and without precise locality, 
Krauss, 3161 Gerrard, 298! Gucinzius ! Sanderson! Plant ! 
II. ASPARAGUS, Linn. 
Flowers in all the Cape species hermaphrodite. Perianth poly- 
phyllous, campanulate ; segments subequal, spreading. Stamens 6, 
inserted at the base of the perianth-segments; filaments short, fili- 
form or slightly flattened ; anthers dorsifixed, versatile, dehiscing 
introrsely. Ovary sessile, globose, 8-celled ; ovules 2 or few in a cell ; 
style short, filiform; stigma tricuspidate. Berry globose, pulpy. 
Seeds often solitary, globose, or angled by pressure; testa black ; 
a]bumen horny. : 
_ Stems erect or scandent, often woody ; leaves small, scariose, often produced 
into spines at the base; cladodia solitary or fascicled in the axils of the leaves, 
usually subterete, rarely flattened ; flowers small, whitish, nsually axillary, rarely 
racemose ; pedicels articulated, so that the flowers fall easily. 
2 tegen Spesies about 100, spread through the temperate and tropical regions 
