344 LILY FAMILY. 



S. amplexifblius. Stem stout, rough at base, 2 - 3 high ; leaves strong- 

 ly clasping, smooth, glaucous beneath ; Hower whitish, on a long stalk with 

 abrupt bend above the middle ; anthers slender-pointed ; stigma truncate. 



S. rbseus. Stem l-2 high; leaves green, finely ciliate, and with the 

 few branches beset with more short and fine bristly hairs ; flower rose-purple, 

 on a less bent stalk ; anthers 2-horned ; stigma 3-cleft. 



16. CONVALLARIA, LILY-OF-THE- VALLEY. (Name altered 

 from the Latin Lilium convallium, of which the English name is a translation.) 

 Fl. late spring. 



C. majalis, the only true species, cult, everywhere, from Europe, and wild 

 on the higher Alleghanies ; its small sweet-scented white flowers familiar. 



17. SMILACINA, FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. (Name a diminutive 

 of Smilax, which these plants do not resemble.) Wild in woods or low 

 grounds : fl. late spring. 



1. Perianth of only 4 reflexed spreading divisions: stamens 4 : ovary 2-celled. 

 S. bifolia. In all moist woods N. : 3' - 6' high ; stem bearing 2 (sometimes 

 3) heart-shaped leaves, and a short raceme of small flowers; berries red. 



2. Perianth ofG divisions: stamens 6 : ovary 3-celled, rarely 2-celled. 



S. trifdlia. Cold bogs N. : 3' -6' high, smooth, with mostly 3 oblong 

 leaves tapering to a sheathing base ; raceme loose, few-flowered ; berries red, 



S. Stellata. Rocky places N. : l-2 high, smooth, or the 7-12 lance- 

 oblong leaves minutely downy when young; raceme several-flowered; berries 

 blackish. 



S. racemosa. Moist copses and banks, chiefly N. : 2 high, minutely 

 downy, leafy to the top ; the oblong or lance-oval leaves ciliate, pointed at each 

 end ; flowers small, crowded in a compound raceme; the divisions of perianth 

 narrow ; berries pale red and speckled. 



18. POLYGONATUM, SOLOMON'S SEAL. (Name in Greek means 

 many-jointed. The English name is from the rootstocks, the impression of 

 the seal being the scar left by the death and separation of the stem of a former 

 year: Lessons, p. 42, fig. 66.) Stem recurving or turned to one side. Fl. 

 late spring and early summer. 



P. bifl6rum, SMALLER S. Wooded banks : l-3 high ; the ovate-oblong 

 or lance-oblong leaves nearly sessile and glaucous or minutely whitish-downy 

 beneath ; peduncles mostly 2-flowered ; filaments roughened, borne above the 

 middle of the tube. 



P. gigant&um, LARGER S. Alluvial grounds N. : 3 -8 high, smooth ; 

 leaves ovate, partly clasping ; peduncles 2 - 8-flowered ; filaments smooth and 

 naked, borne on the middle of the tube. 



19. ASPARAGUS. (The ancient Greek name.) Fl. early summer. 



A. officinalis, COMMON ASPARAGUS. Cult, from Eu. for its esculent 

 spring shoots, spontaneous about gardens : tall, bushy-branched, the leaves 

 thread-shaped. 



20. MYRSIPHYLLUM. (The name in Greek means myrtle-leaved.) 

 M. asparagoides, of Cape Good Hope : a very smooth delicate 



twiner, cult, in conservatories for winter decoration, under the name of 

 SMILAX : the bright green so-called leaves 1' or more long, glossy-green both 

 sides, nerved, set edgewise on the branch, but turning so as to present an upper 

 and under face ; the small flowers produced in winter, sweet-scented, with 

 reddish anthers; berries green. That the seeming leaves are of the nature 

 of branches is shown in Ruscus, the BUTCHER'S BROOM, of Europe (here 

 rarely cultivated), where they are rigid, spiny-tipped, and bear flowers on one 

 face. 



