LILIACE^E. (LILTt FAMILY.) 467 



3. SMIL.ACINA, Desf. False Solomon's Seal. 



Perianth 4-6-partcd, spreading, deciduous (white), with as many stamens 

 inserted at the base of the divisions. Filaments slender : anthers short. Ovary 

 2-3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell : style short and thick : stigma obscurely 

 2-3-lobed. Berry globular, 1 -2-seeded. — Perennial herbs, with simple stems 

 from creeping or thickish rootstocks, alternate nerved leaves, and white, often 

 fragrant flowers in a terminal simple or compound raceme. (Name a diminu- 

 tive of Smilax, which, however, these plants are quite unlike.) 



§ 1. SMILACINA Proper. — Divisions of the perianth [oblong-lanceolate) and 

 stamens 6, the latter longer : ovary 3-celled: ovules collateral: racemes crowded in 

 a compound raceme or close panicle. 



1. S. racemosa, Desf. (False Spikenard.) Minutely downy ; leaves 

 numerous, oblong or oval-lanceolate, taper-pointed, ciliate, abruptly somewhat 

 petioled. — Moist copses : common. June. — Stem 2° high from a thickish 

 rootstock, zigzag. Berries pale red, speckled with purple, aromatic. (S. cili- 

 ata, Desf., is a dwarf state of this.) 



$ 2. ASTERANTHEMUM, Kunth. — Divisions of the perianth &, oblong -lance- 

 olate, longer than the stamens : ovary 2 - 3-celled: ovules one above the other : raceme 

 single, 5 - 20 -flowered. 



2. S. Stellata., Desf. Nearly glabrous, or the 7-12 oblong-lanceolate leaves 

 miuutely downy beneath when young, slightly clasping; bemes blackish. — 

 Moist banks ; common, especially northward. May, June. — Plant l°-2° 

 high. (Eu.) 



3. S. tl'ifulia, Desf. Glabrous, dwarf (3' -6' high) ; leaves 3 (sometimes 

 2 or 4), oblong, tapering to a sheathing base; berries red. — Cold bogs, New 

 England to Wisconsin, and northward. May. 



§ 3. MALANTHEMUM, Desf. — Divisions of the reflexed-spreading perianth 

 (oval) and the stamens 4, of equal length : ovary 2-celled: ovules collateral: raceme 

 single, many-flowered. 



4. S. bifdlia, Ker. Glabrous, or somevrhat pubescent, low (3' -5' high); 

 leaves mostly 2 (sometimes 3), heart-shaped, petioled, or in our plant (var. 

 Canadensis) one or both often sessile or nearly so and clasping. — Moist 

 woods ; very common, especially northward. May. (Eu.1 



4. CONVALLARIA, L. (in part). Lily of the Valley. 



Perianth bell-shaped (white), 6-lobed, deciduous ; the lobes recurved. Sta- 

 mens 6, included, inserted on the base of the perianth. Ovary 3-celled, tapering 

 into a stout style : stigma triangular. Ovules 4 - 6 in each cell. Berry few- 

 seeded (red). — A low perennial herb, glabrous, stemless, with slender running 

 rootstocks, sending up from a scaly-sheathing bud 2 oblong leaves, with their 

 long sheathing petioles enrolled one within the other so as to appear like a stalk, 

 and an angled scape bearing a one-sided raceme of pretty sweet-scented nodding 

 flowers. (Altered from Lilium convallium, the popular name.) 



