452 



CONVALLARIACEAE 



3. ASPARAGUS L. Sp. PL 313. 1753. 



Stem at first simple, fleshy, scaly, at length much branched; the branchlets filiform and 

 mostly clustered in the axils of the scales, or in some species flattened and linear to ovate. 

 Howers small solitary, racemose or umbellate. Perianth-segments equal, separate or slightly 

 united at the base. Stamens inserted at the base of the perianth-segments ; filaments usually 

 filiform; anthers ovate or oblong, introrse. Ovary sessile, 3-celled ; ovules 2 in each cavity; 

 style slender, short ; stigma 3, short, recurved. Fruit a globose berry. Seeds few, rounded. 

 [Ancient Greek name.] 



About 100 species, natives of the Old World. Type species, Asparagus officinalis L. 



1. Asparagus officinalis L. 



Asparagus. Fig. 1110. 



Asparagus officinalis L. Sp. PI. 313. 1753. 



Roostock much branched. Young stems succu- 

 lent, edible, stout, later branching, and becoming 1-2 

 m. high, the filiform branchlets 1-2 cm. long, mostly 

 clustered in the axils of minute scales ; flowers mostly 

 solitary at the nodes, green, drooping on jointed fili- 

 form pedicels ; perianth campanulate, about 6 min. long, 

 the segment's linear, obtuse ; statnens shorter than the 

 perianth ; berry red, about 8 mm. in diameter. 



Escaped from cultivation, and naturalized especially in suli- 

 saline or alkaline soils. Native of Europe. 



4. CLINTONIA Raf. Jotirn. Pys. 89: 102. 1819. 



Pubescent, or nearly glabrous, scapose herbs, with slender rootstocks, erect simple 

 scapes, and few broad petioled sheathing basal leaves. Flowers bractless, terminal, solitary, or 

 umbellate. Perianth-segments separate, equal or nearly so, erect-spreading. Stamens 6, 

 inserted at the bases of the perianth-segments, filaments filiform ; anthers oblong, laterally 

 dehiscent. Ovary 2-3-celled ; ovule 2-several in each cavity ; style stout or slender ; 

 stigma obscurely 2-3 lobed. Fruit an oval or globose, blue or black berry. [Name in honor 

 of DeWitt Clinton, 1769-1828, American naturalist, Governor of New York.] 



Six species. 2 native of western North America, 2 of eastern North America, and 2 of eastern Asia. 



Flowers 1 or 2 white. 

 Flowers umbellate, deep red. 



1. C. uni flora. 



2. C. andrcwsiana. 



1. Clintonia uniflora (Schult.) Kunth. 

 Single-flowered Clintonia. Fig. 1111. 



Smilaciiia borealis jiiiiflora Schult. in Roem & Schult. Svst. 

 7: 307. 1829. 



Sniilacina uniflora Menzies, Hook. FI. Bor. Am. 2: 175. 

 pi. 190. 1839. 



Clintonia ur.iflora Kunth, Enum. 5: 159. 1850. 



Stem only 2-5 cm. long, mostl}' subterranean, 

 arising from a slender creeping rootstock. Leaves 

 2 or 3, rarely 4 or 5. oblanceolate to obovate, 

 8-15 cm. long, 2-7 cm. wide, acute, tapering at 

 base, more or less villous-pubescent ; peduncle 

 slender, half to two-thirds the length of the leaves, 

 naked or with 1 or 2 small bracts ; flowers 1 or 

 rarely 2, erect, white ; perianth-segments 18-25 

 inm. long, 5-7 mm. wide, puliescent; filaments pu- 

 bescent; anthers linear, 4-5 mm. long, sagittate: 

 berry blue, globose or pyriform, 8-12 mm. in di- 

 ameter, the cavities 6-10 seeded. 



Wooded mountain slopes. Transition and (mainly) 

 Canadian Zones; southern Alaska to Montana, southward 

 through the Cascade-Sierra Nevada Ranges to Mariposa 

 County, California. Type locality: "in ora occidentali 

 Americae borealis", collected by Menzies. 



