SMILACE^E. (SMILAX FAMILY.) 403 



* # Leaves varying from oblong-lanceolate to linear, narrowed at the base into a short 

 petiole, 3 - h-nerved, shining above, paler or glaucous beneath, many without tendrils ; 

 peduncles short, seldom exceeding the pedicels; the umbels sometimes panicled ; 

 branches terete, unarmed. 



7. S. laiaceoliita, L. Leaves thin, rather deciduous, ovate-lanceolate or 

 lance-oblong ; berries red. — S. E. Virginia and southward. June. 



8. S. i:5Ssi'if «!bS1, L. Leaves thick and coriaceous, evergreen, varying from 

 oblong-lanceolate to linear (2^' -5' long) ; berries black, mostly 1-seeded. — Pine 

 barrens, New Jersey to Virginia and southward. July, Aug. 



§ 2. COPROSMANTHUS, Torr. — Stem herbaceous, not prickly: ovules mostly 

 in pairs in each cell : leaves long-petioled, membranaceous, mucronate-tipped : berries 

 bluish-black with a bloom. 



9. S. Iierl»a.cea, L. (Carrion-Flower.) Stem erect and recurving, 

 or climbing ; leaves ovate-oblong or rounded, mostly heart-shaped, 7 - S-nerved, smooth ; 

 tendrils sometimes wanting; peduncles elongated (3' -4' long, or often 6' - 8', 

 and much longer than the leaves), 20-40-flowered. — Var. pulverulenta 

 (S. pulverulenta, Michx. & S. peduncularis, Muhl.) has the leaves more or less 

 soft-downy underneath. A shorter pedunclcd state of this is S. lasioneuron, 

 Hook. — Moist meadows and river-banks; common. June. — Stem 3° -6° 

 long. Leaves very variable : petioles l'-3' long. Flowers exhaling the stench 

 of carrion. Seeds 6. 



10. S. tanillifolia, Michx. Stem upright or climbing ; leaves heart- 

 halbei'd-shaped, 5-nerved, smooth; peduncles longer than the petioles. (S. tam- 

 noides, Pursh., not of L.) — Pine barrens, New Jersey to Virginia and south- 

 ward. — Leaves abruptly narrowed above the dilated heart-shaped base, tapering 

 to the apex. Berry (always?) 2-3-seeded. 



Suborder n. TRIL,L,IACEjE. The Trillium Family. 



2. TRILLIUM, L. Three-leaved Nightshade. 



Flower perfect. Sepals 3, lanceolate, spreading, herbaceous, persistent. 

 Petals 3, larger, withering in age. Stamens 6 : anthers linear, adnate, on short 

 filaments. Styles (or rather stigmas) awl-shaped or slender, spreading or re- 

 curved above, persistent, stigmatic down the inner side. Berry often 6-sided, 

 ovate, 3-celled (purple). Seeds horizontal, several in each cell. — Low peren- 

 nial herbs, with a stout and simple stem rising from a very short and abrupt 

 tuber-like rootstock, naked below, bearing at the summit a whorl of 3 ample 

 and commonly broadly ovate leaves, and a terminal large flower. (Name 

 from trilix, triple; all the parts being in threes.) — Monstrosities are not rarely 

 met with in some species, especially in Nos. 5 and 7, with the calyx and 

 sometimes the petals changed to leaves, or with the parts of the flower increased 

 in number. 



$ 1. Flower sessile and involucrate by the 3 leaves, erect ; petals varying from spatulate 

 to lanceolate, l'-2' long, little exceeding the sepals, withering-persistent: stems 

 mostly two from the same bud. 



