LILIACEAE 29 



stamens bearing 2-celled anthers, and a single pistil made up, 

 as a rule, of a 3-celled ovary and 3 distinct, or more or less 

 united, styles. The petals and sepals usually are colored alike 

 and are similar in size and shape. The ovary ripens into a pod, 

 as in the lily, or into a berry, as in asparagus, containing many 

 or few seeds. 



This is an exceedingly large family of varied aspect and wide 

 distribution, well known in our gardens, both for its decorative 

 members and for those useful as vegetables. It is represented in 

 Illinois by a great many native herbs and the w^oody greenbriers. 



SMILAX Linnaeus 



Greenbriers Sawbriers 



The greenbriers are woody or, less often, herbaceous vines, 

 which climb and cling by means of tendrils arising in pairs from 

 leaf petioles. Their stems frequently are armed with prickles. 

 The greenish or yellowish, dioecious flowers, which occur in 

 small, axillary umbels, are small, and each has 3 regular, sep- 

 arate sepals, 3 similar petals, and 6 stamens or a 3-celled, very 

 shortly 3-styled ovary, which develops into a small, 2- to 6- 

 seeded, pulpy berry. The petioled, broad-bladed leaves are alter- 

 nate on the stems and are characterized by the 2 to 4 prominent 

 veins that run parallel with the midvein through the length of 

 the blade. 



Key to the Greenbrier Species 



Leaves green on both sides. 



Leaves of young plants contracted on the sides and appear- 

 ing hastate S. Bona-nox, p. 32 



Leaves of young and old plants not contracted or hastate. 

 Three nerves of the leaf reaching the apex; fruit more or 



less glaucous S. rotundifolia, p. 29 



Five nerves reaching the apex; fruit not glaucous 



S. hispida, p. 33 



Leaves green above, glaucous beneath S. glauca, p. 30 



SMILAX ROTUNDIFOLIA Linnaeus 



Common Greenbrier Horsebrier Round-Leaved Brier 



The Common Greenbrier, fig. 3, is a large, climbing vine with 

 dull green, ovate leaves and with stems and often branchlets 

 rather sparsely beset with long, sharp spines. The vines arise 

 from long underground stems and become, with age. rather 



