JUNIPERUS 45 



long, those of the older branches scale-like, acute or subacute, 

 closely appressed and overlapping, 4-ranked, causing the twigs 

 to appear quadrangular; cones ("berries") maturing in autumn, 

 light blue, glaucous, about 6 mm. in diameter. Dry woods and 

 barrens, often on limestone outcrops, Florida to Texas, north to 

 New England and Missouri (Fig. 23). 



SMILAX L. (Liliaceae) 



Woody (sometimes herbaceous) plants climbing by tendrils 

 which are borne in pairs on the petiole of the leaves, and may 

 represent modified stipules. Stems terete or angled, usually bear- 

 ing strong large prickles; pith lacking, the vascular bundles scat- 

 tered throughout, as is customary in monocots. Buds moderate, 

 3-sided, pointed, divergent, with a single exposed scale. Leaves 

 deciduous (evergreen in warm climates) tearing away above the 

 broadened base of the petiole and hence leaving no definite scar. 

 Fruit a berry, often persistent into winter. 



a. Leaves mostly deciduous 



b. Stems not glaucous 



c. Prickles widened or 



flattened at the base 1. S. rotundifolia 



c. Prickles needle-like, 



black 2. S. hispida 



b. Stems glaucous 3. S. glauca 



a. Leaves evergreen 4. S. laurifolia 



1. S. rotundifolia L. Common Greenbrier . Stem glabrous, 

 nearly terete, the branches and young shoots usually sharply 4- 

 angled; prickles scattered, stout, straight or a little curved; 

 berries black, 6 mm. in diameter, ripe in October and November, 

 persistent into winter. Thickets and woods, Florida to Texas, 

 north to Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Oklahoma (Fig. 24). 



2. S. hispida Muhl. Hispid Greenbrier. (S. tamnoides L. 

 var. hispida (Muhl. ) Fernald). Stem climbing in thickets, glab- 

 rous, terete, the lower parts thickly hispid with numerous straight 

 slender black prickles, the younger branches unarmed or nearly 

 so; branches somewhat angled; berries bluish-black, 6 mm. in 

 diameter. Rich woods, often on limestone outcrops; New York and 

 South Dakota, south to Georgia and Texas (Fig. 25). 



3. ^. glauca Walt. Glaucous Greenbrier. Stem glabrous, 

 terete, glaucous, armed with rather stout numerous or scattered 



