FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 51 



Family Convallariaceae. Lily-of-the-Valley Family. The genera 

 of this group are 23, the species about 215, of wide distribution. 

 These too are all herbs, and they grow without exception from root- 

 stocks instead of bulbs. The leaves are usually broad and veiny; the 

 perianth is variously shaped and colored. The chief distinctiue char- 

 acter is found in the fruit, which is a fleshy berry. A good example 

 of this fruit may be seen on the Solomon's seal [Polygonatma) in mid- 

 summer. That important succulent vegetable known as Asparagus 

 belongs to this family, and oddly enough the little Smilax with which 

 we decorate our tables and bouquets is also a member of the genus 

 Asparagus. In all the species of this genus the true leaves are re- 

 duced to little scales, and the leaf- like organs which we perceive in the 

 Smilax are called phyllodia. Thus they are functionally leaves, but 

 structurally Ijranchlets. The Lily-of-the- valley [Convallaria) and the 

 Clintonia, both of which gj-ow wild in the southern Alleghenies, are 

 two exceedingly ornamental members of this family. 



