LILIACE^E. (LILY FAMILY.) 525 



with 2-6 ovules iii each cell ; style slender, deciduous by a joint ; stigma ob- 

 tuse or capitate, obscurely 3-lobed. Berry globular, black or blue ; the cells 

 1 - 2-seeded. Perennial herbs, with simple erect or curving steins, from 

 creeping thick and knotted rootstocks, naked below, above bearing nearly 

 sessile or half-clasping nerved leaves, and axillary nodding greenish flowers ; 

 pedicels jointed near the flower. (The ancient name, composed of iro\vs, many, 

 and y6w, knee, alluding to the numerous joints of the rootstock and stem.) 

 Ours are alternate-leaved species, the stem terete or scarcely angled when 

 fresh. 



1. P. biflorum, Ell. (SMALLER SOLOMON'S SEAL.) Glabrous, except 

 the ovate-oblong or lance-oblong nearly sessile leaves, which are commonly 

 minutely pubescent as well as pale or glaucous underneath ; stem slender (1 -3 

 high); peduncles 1-3- but mostly 2-fiotcered ; perianth 4-6" long; filaments 

 papillose-roughened, inserted toward the summit of the periantlr. Wooded 

 hillsides, N. Brunswick to Fla., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex. 



2. P. gigantdum, Dietrich. (GREAT S.) Glabrous throughout; stem 

 stout and mostly tall (2-7 high), terete; leaves ovate, partly clas/n'n/j (3-8' 

 long), or the upper oblong and nearly sessile, many-nerved ; peduncles several- 

 (2 - 8-) flowered, jointed below the flower ; flowers 5 - 9" long ; filaments smooth 

 and naked, or nearly so, inserted on the middle of the tube. Meadows and 

 river-banks, N. Eug. to Va., west to the Rocky Mts. June. 



12. ASPARAGUS, Touru. ASPARAGUS. 



Perianth 6-parted, spreading above ; the 6 stamens on its base ; anthers 

 introrse. Style short ; stigma 3-lobed. Berry spherical, 3-celled ; the cells 

 2-seeded. Perennials, with much-branched steins from thick and matted 

 rootstocks, and small greenish-yellow axillary flowers on jointed pedicels. 

 The narrow, commonly thread-like, so-called leaves are really branchlets, 

 acting as leaves, clustered in the axils of little scales which are the true leaves. 

 (The ancient Greek name.) 



A. OFFiciNAus, L. (GARDEN ASPARAGUS.) Herbaceous, tall, bushy- 

 branched ; leaves thread-like. A frequent escape from gardens. Juue. 

 (Adv. from Eu.) 



13. SMILACINA, Desf. FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. 



Perianth 6-parted, spreading, withering-persistent (white). Stamens 6, in- 

 serted at the base of the divisions ; filaments slender , anthers short, introrse. 

 Ovary 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell ; style short and thick , stigma ob- 

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

 stems from creeping or thickish rootstocks, alternate nerved mostly sessile 

 leaves, and white, sometimes fragrant flowers in a terminal and simple or 

 compound raceme. (Name a diminutive of Smilax, to which, however, these 

 plants bear little resemblance.) 



* Flowers on very short pedicels in a terminal racemose panicle ; stamens exceed- 

 ing the small (1" long) segments; ovules collateral ; rootstock stout, fleshy. 



1. S. racemosa, Desf. (FALSE SPIKENARD.) Minutely downy (1 -3 

 high) ; leaves numerous, oblong or oval-lanceolate, taper-pointed, ciliate, ab- 

 ruptly somewhat petioled ; berries pale red, speckled with purple, aromatic. 

 Moist copses, N. Brunswick to S. C., west to Minn., E. Kan. and Ark. 



