326 



Liliaceae Smilax 



1. Smilax pulverulenta Michx. Map 666. Infrequent to rare in the 

 southern part of the state where it is usually found in hard, dry soil on 

 wooded slopes, associated with oaks, and rarely in dry, sandy soil. I found 

 it also in a low post oak flat south of Half Moon Pond in the southwestern 

 part of Posey County. There is a specimen in the herbarium of the Univer- 

 sity of Notre Dame collected by Nieuwland in St. Joseph County that I 

 doubtfully refer to this species. 



Southern N. Y., s. Ind. to s. Mo., southw. to N. C. and Tenn. 



2. Smilax herbacea L. Smooth Carrion-flower. Map 667. This plant 

 is variable in size and in its habitat. I found a specimen in Franklin 

 County that was 15 feet long. On the whole, plants of the variety are 

 larger than those of the typical form. It is infrequent to rare throughout 

 the state and is found on wooded slopes and alluvial plains, and rarely in 

 the open, usually associated with beech and white oak. 



Out. to Nebr., southw. to Ga., Ala., and Mo. 



2a. Smilax herbacea var. lasioneura (Hook.) A. DC. Map 668. The 

 variety has the range and habitats of the species but is much more fre- 

 quent,* especially in sandy soil in the northern part of the state where it is 

 somewhat frequent along roadsides. 



I admit that I do not know this species and its variety and the next 

 species. My attention was first called to them when Pennell revised this 

 section of the genus. For several years I have been assembling the aber- 

 rant forms in our garden with the hope that a study of them would solve 

 the problem, but I have found that the plants of this genus grow very 

 slowly and most of the specimens I have planted are not yet old enough for 

 study. Ordinarily each rhizome sends up one stem, although I have one 

 plant that had 8 stems in 1936 and 9 in 1937. The number of stems from 

 a single rhizome seems yet to be ascertained. This variety is so extremely 

 variable that it seems that no character will hold to separate a large series 

 of plants. I think the complex consists of several forms that might well 

 be recognized. We have some plants that reach 4-6 feet in height that are 

 simple and others that are usually 3-5 feet that are so much branched that 

 they form a compact mass. Some plants will be in flower when others are 

 just peeping through the ground. Some will have 1-3 long peduncles below 

 all the leaves while others will have the peduncles mostly about the middle 

 of the stem. Some plants have wide leaves, few peduncles, and only a very 

 few tendrils, and in all the herbaria I have visited they are referred to 

 Smilax ecirrhata, but they can always be separated from that species by 

 their tendrils and, what I think to be our best character, the fewer-flow- 

 ered umbels. Under this variety I have included several forms which I hope 

 can be satisfactorily distinguished by someone in the future. 



Ont. and Ohio to Wyo., southw. to Ga., Ala., and Colo. 



3. Smilax ecirrhata (Engelm.) Wats. Map 669. Probably infrequent to 

 rare throughout the state, although I recall seeing it rather frequently in 

 the Lower Wabash Valley in low woods bordering sloughs, especially in 



