5'4 



CONVALLARIACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



i. Asparagus officinalis L. Asparagus. Fig. 



1280. 



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



Rootstock much branched. Young stems succu- 

 lent, edible, stout, later branching, and becoming 3-7 

 tall, the filiform branchlets 3"~9" long, less than 1-" 

 thick, mostly clustered in the axils of minute scales. 

 Flowers mostly solitary at the nodes, green, drooping 

 on filiform jointed peduncles; perianth campanulate, 

 about 3" long, the segments linear, obtuse ; stamens 

 shorter than the perianth ; berry red, about 4" in 

 diameter. 



Escaped from cultivation and naturalized, especially 

 along salt marshes, New Brunswick to Virginia, and locally 

 in waste places in the interior. Native of Europe. Sperage. 

 Sparrow-grass. May-June, or flowering also in the autumn. 



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



Somewhat pubescent scapose herbs, with slender rootstocks, erect simple scapes, and few 

 broad petioled sheathing basal leaves, the bractless flowers umbelled at the summit of the 

 scape in our species. Perianth-segments distinct, equal or nearly so, erect-spreading. Sta- 

 mens 6, inserted at the bases of the perianth-segments; filaments filiform; anthers oblong, 

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

 stigma obscurely 2-3-lobed. Berry globose or oval. [Name in honor of De Witt Clinton, 

 1769-1828, American naturalist, Governor of the State of New York.] 



Six species, the following of eastern North America, 2 of western North America, 2 Asiatic. 

 Type species : Clintonia borealis (Ait.) Raf. 



Flowers greenish-yellow, drooping, 8"-io" long; berry blue. 

 Flowers white, not drooping, 4" -5" long ; berry black. 



i. C. borealis. 

 2. C. umbclhtlata. 



i. Clintonia borealis (Ait.) Raf. Yellow 



Clintonia. 



Fig. 1281. 



Dracaena borealis Ait. Hort. Kew i : 454. 1789. 

 Clintonia borealis Raf. Atl. Journ. 120. 1832. 



Scape 6'-i5' high, pubescent above or nearly 

 glabrous. Leaves 2-5, usually 3, oval, oblong or 

 obovate, thin, shorter than the scape, ii'-3*' wide, 

 ciliate, short-acuminate or cuspidate; umbel 

 3-6-flowered ; flowers drooping, greenish yellow, 

 8"-io" long; pedicels 3"-! 5" long, slender, pu- 

 bescent, erect or ascending in fruit ; perianth- 

 segments obtuse or acutish ; stamens about as 

 long as the perianth ; ovary 2-celled ; ovules 

 numerous, in 2 rows in each cavity, style slender, 

 somewhat thickened above, about equalling the 

 stamens; berry oval, blue, several-seeded, about 

 4" in diameter. 



In moist woods and thickets, Newfoundland to Ontario and Manitoba, south to North Carolina 

 and Wisconsin. Ascends to 4500 ft. in Virginia. A flower is occasionally borne on the scape below 

 the umbel, and rarely a small leaf. Clinton's-lily. Heal-all. Wild lily-of-the-valley. Bear- or 

 cow-tongue. Northern lily. Dogberry. Wild corn. May-June. 



