SMILAX FAMILY 



early May an erect, smooth, unbranched stem, one to 

 two feet high, mostly destitute of tendrils and what 

 there are belonging to the upper leaves. In the axils 

 of the leaves are umbels of yellowish green six-lobed 

 florets, each umbel containing from twenty to thirty 

 of these. The plant is dioecious, and these florets are 

 either staminate without pistils or pistillate without 

 stamens. In September the fertile stem is burdened 

 with the weight of its bluish black berries in many- 

 fruited umbels. 



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