LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY FAMILY 



"^ SMILICINA. FALSE SOLOMON'S-SEAL. 

 WILD SPIKENARD 



Smihpina racemosa. Vdgnera racemosa 



Smilicina, a diminutive of Smilax. Vdgnera, in honor 

 of Wagner. 



Perennial herb of moist woods and thickets. Nova 

 Scotia to Georgia and westward to Missouri and British 

 America. Abundant in northern Ohio. April, May. 



Rootstock. — Thick, fleshy, creeping. 



Stem. — One to three feet high, smooth, leafy, usually 

 curving, somewhat angled. 



Leaves. — Many on the stem, alternate, oblong-lanceolate 

 or oval, pointed, strongly ribbed; margins entire, hairy. 



Flowers. — Small, white, fragrant, borne in a terminal, 

 panicled raceme. 



Perianth. — Six-parted, spreading; segments oblong. 



Stamens. — Six, inserted at the base of the perianth 

 divisions; filaments slender; anthers introrse. 



Pistil. — One; ovary three-celled; stigma three-grooved. 



Fruit. — A bunch of pale-red berries, specked with purple, 

 abundant in the early autumn, aromatic in taste. 



Pollinated by bees, flies, and beetles. 



The leafy stems of Smilicina are found standing in 

 groups and bunches at the edge of the open wood in 

 early May, some in bloom and all prepared to bloom. 

 The stems rise from one to three feet, bearing many 

 bright-green, shining, parallel-veined leaves arranged 

 alternately and at the summit appears a loose pyram- 

 idal spike of small white flowers, not unlike the in- 

 florescence of Spirea Japonica. Though the flower- 

 cluster is attractive and beautiful, the graceful poise 



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