GENUS i. 



SMILAX FAMILY. 



527 



ovary and usually with 1-6 abortive stamens. Berry black, red or purple (rarely white), 

 with 3 strengthening bands of tissue running through the outer part of the pulp, connected 

 at the base and apex.- Embryo lying under a tubercle at the upper end of the seed. [Ancient 

 Greek name, perhaps not originally applied to these plants.] 



About 225 species of wide distribution, most abundant in tropical America and Asia. Besides 

 the following, about 12 others occur in the southern United States and i in California and Oregon. 

 Type species : Smila.r aspera L. 



Stem annual, herbaceous, unarmed. [NEMEXIA Raf.] 

 Petioles tendril-bearing; stems climbing. 



Leaves usually ovate, thin. i. S.herbacea. 



Leaves usually hastate, coriaceous. 2. S. tamnifolia. 



Petioles without tendrils or nearly so ; stems erect. 3. S. ecirrliata. 



Stem perennial, woody, usually armed with prickles 

 Berries black or bluish-black. 

 Fruit ripening the first year. 



Leaves glaucous. 4. S. glauca. 



Leaves green on both sides. 



Leaves rounded or lanceolate, s-nerved. 5. S. rotundifolia. 



Leaves ovate, 7-nerved. 6. S. hispida. 



Leaves round-ovate, often narrowed at the middle, 7-9-nerved. 7. S. Pseudo-China. 

 Leaves deltoid or deltoid-hastate, s-7-nerved, often with i or 2 additional nerves on 



each side. 



Fruit ripening the second year ; leaves elliptic or lanceolate, evergreen. 

 Berries red. 



Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, base rounded ; berries bright red. 

 Leaves lanceolate, acute at the base ; berries dull red. 



i. Srnilax herbacea L. Carrion-flower. 

 Jacob's Ladder. Fig. 1308. 



Smilax herbacea L. Sp. PI. 1030. 1753. 



S. pulverulenta Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 238. 1803. 



Coprosmanthus herbaceits Kunth, Enum. 5 : 264. 1 850. 



Tubers short, thick, scarred, numerous. Stem 

 herbaceous, glabrous, terete or obtusely angled, 

 unarmed, commonly much branched. Petioles 

 4"-3i' long ; tendrils numerous ; leaves ovate, 

 rounded or lanceolate, acute, acuminate or cus- 

 pidate at the apex, obtuse or cordate at the base, 

 thin, frequently downy beneath, 7-g-nerved, 

 ii'-5' long, i'-3J' wide, the margins entire or 

 denticulate ; peduncles 4'-9' long, usually 6-10 

 times as long as the petioles, flattened; umbels 

 i5-8o-flowered; pedicels 3"-8" long; flowers car- 

 rion-scented when open ; stamens sometimes 5 or 

 7; filaments 2-3 times as long as the anthers; ber- 

 ries bluish black, 2-4-seeded, 3"-4" in diameter. 



In woods and thickets. New Brunswick to Ontario, 

 Manitoba, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska and Okla- 

 homa. April-June. 



S. Bona-nox. 

 9. S. laurifolia. 



10. 5". Waller],. 



11. S. lanceolata. 



2. Smilax tamnifolia Michx. Halberd- 

 leaved Smilax. Fig. 1309. 



S. tamnifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 238. 1803. 

 Coprosmanthus tamntfolius Kunth, Enum. 5 : 267. 

 1850. 



Glabrous, herbaceous; stem and branches terete 

 or obtusely angled, unarmed. Petioles i'-ii' long, 

 the sheath tendril-bearing, very short or none ; 

 leaves coriaceous, mostly ovate-hastate, with broad 

 obtuse lobes at the base, slightly narrowed at about 

 the middle, acute, obtuse or acuminate at the apex, 

 truncate or subcordate at the base, entire, green on 

 both sides, i5'~3' long, i'-2' wide, 5~7-nerved; 

 peduncles 1-3 from the same axil, i'-4' long, usu- 

 ally much longer than the leaves, often flattening 

 in drying; umbels io-3o-flowered ; pedicels 2"-3" 

 long; segments of the staminate flowers slightly 

 pubescent ; filaments 1-2 times as long as the an- 

 thers ; berries black, 2"-3" in diameter, i-3-seeded. 



In dry soil, Long Island to New Jersey, Pennsyl- 

 vania, South Carolina and Tennessee. May-July. 



