cxxxii. LiLiACE.^:. 763 



long, soinetiines fasciculate or obscurely paniculate ; pedicels -^-^2 i'^- 

 long, jointed about the middle ; bracts -^ in. long, ovate, boat-shaped. 

 Perianth jV^tV ^'^- ''^"S ' segments spreading, the outer linear-oblong, 

 the inner subspathulate. Anthers minute. Berry globose, i in. in 

 diam., or didymous and twice as broad (Trimen). Fl. B. I. v. 6, p. 318 ; 

 Trim. El. Ceyl. v. 4, p. 286 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) 

 p. 523. — Flowers: Jan. 



Rare. Konkan : Lawl Kanaka: Siddapur (N. Kanara), Wooclroiv. — Distrib. 

 India (W. Peninsula) ; Ceylon. 



Asparar/Ks officinalis, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 313. TJte Asparagus, 

 often cultivated in the gardens of Europeans in India, but requiring 

 very careful treatment and high manuring to produce shoots of any size. 

 As asparagus ])lautations in India do not last long, it is advisable to 

 prepare a fresh one yearly. 



2. SMILAX, Linn. 



Climbing shrubs (rarely erect herbs). Leaves alternate (rarely oppo- 

 site), persistent, 3-7-nerved, reticulately veined ; petiole usually with 2 

 tendrils above its base. Eloweis small, umbellate, dioecious. Perianth 

 of 6 free, usually incurved or recurved, subequal segments. Male 

 FLOWEUS : Stamens 6 or more, inserted at the base of the perianth ; 

 filaments erect, free, long or short ; anthers oblong, 2-celled, didymous, 

 with contiguous cells or with cells discrete by a forking of the con- 

 nective. Pistillode 0. Eemale flowers : Staminodes 3 or 6, filiform. 

 Ovary 3-celled, 3-gouons ; ovules 1-2 in each cell, orthotropous, pen- 

 dulous ; style short or ; stigmas 3, stout, recurved. Emit a globose 

 berry. Seeds solitary, or more often 2, hemispheric (rarely 3) ; albumen 

 horny ; embryo small. — Distmb. Species about 180, in temperate and 

 tropical regions. 



1. Smilax macrophylla, Eoxh. Hort. Bemj. (1814) p. 72. A large 

 climber; stems smooth, striate, armed with a few sujall distant prickles 

 or almost unarmed. Leaves alternate, 3-8 by li—i^ in. (much larger 

 in some Kumaon and Kangoon specimens), broadly ovate, or suborbicular, 

 acuuiinate or cuspidate, glabrous, polished and shining, base usually 

 rounded ; main nerves 5-7 (usually 5), with reticulate venation between; 

 petioles |-1 in. long, stout, narrowly sheathing below the middle ; 

 tendrils very long and slender. Elowers in pedunculate many-flowered 

 umbels; peduncles |-| in. long; bracts below the peduncles ovate, 

 acute, yq-^ in. long; pedicels of both male and female flowers arising 

 from an aggregation of numerous minute bracts. Male flowers : 

 Pedicels i in. long. Perianth |-|- in. long ; segments linear, obtuse, 

 erect when young, afterwards reflexed, the 3 outer J^ in. broad, the 3 

 inner half as broad. Stamens i in. long. Female flowers : Perianth 

 rather shorter than in the male, the segments reflexed, the 3 outer 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse, ^^ in. broad, the 3 inner half as broad ; pedicels 

 |-i in. long, slightly elongating in fruit. Stigmas 3, recurved. Berry 

 perfectly spherical, of the size of a large pea, smooth, remaining green 

 for a long time, becoming ultimately red when ripe ; fruiting pedicels 

 |-1 in. long. Fl. B. I. v. 6, p. 310 ; Grab. Cat. p. 219 ; Dalz. & Gibs. 



