280 SMILACACEAE 



purple within, with a slender stipe-like base : sepals and petals 3-5 mm. long, ovate, 

 spreading or reflexed : capsule somewhat berry-like, ovoid, 3-6 mm. long. 

 In woods, Georgia to Florida and Alabama. Spring. 



FAMILY 9. SMILACACEAE Vent. SMIL AX FAMILY. 



Perennial vines, with herbaceous or woody, smooth or armed stems. Leaves 

 alternate : blades several-nerved and netted-veined, commonly punctate or lineo- 

 late, articulated to the petioles, sometimes persistent : petiole persistent, com- 

 monly bearing a pair of elongated appendages. Flowers dioecious, in axillary 

 peduncled umbels. Perianth regular, usually green, that of the staminate flower 

 larger than that of the pistillate. Sepals and petals 3 each, with spreading 

 tips. Androecium of 6 stamens. Filaments distinct, inserted at the base of the 

 perianth, flattened. Anthers 2-celled, introrse, attached at the base. Gynoecium 

 of 3 united carpels, with the cavities opposite the petals. Stigmas 3, sessile. 

 Ovules 1 or 2 in each cavity, orthotropous or half-anatropous. Fruit a berry. 

 Seeds 1-6, with horny endosperm. Embryo remote from the hilum. 



Stems herbaceous, annual, unarmed : ovules 2 in each ovary-cavity. 1. NEMEXIA. 



Stems woody, perennial, prickly : ovule solitary in each ovary-cavity. 2. SMILAX. 



1. NEMEXIA Raf. 



Unarmed vines, with knotted or tuberous rootstocks and annual stems. Leaf-blades 

 membranous, broad, sometinjes hastate. Umbels on long and slender peduncles. Pedicels 

 inserted in small pits in a conic or globose receptacle. Stamens 6, more or less reduced in 

 pistillate flowers. Ovary 3-celled, wanting in starainate flowers. Ovules 2 in each cavity. 

 Berry blue-black, with 3 bands of stengthening tissue running through the pulp and con- 

 nected at the base and the apex. SMILAX. The plants flower in the spring or rarely 

 in early summer. 



Plants without tendrils : stem erect, relatively short, simple : leaves approximate at the top of the stem. 

 Leaf-blades pubescent beneath, thin during anthesis: anthers shorter than the filaments. 



Sepals of the staminate flowers obovate or oblanceolate : leaf- blades acute or short-acuminate : 



berries not glaucous. 1. N. ecirrhata. 



Sepals of the staminate flowers oblong : leaf-blades broadly rounded and ob- 

 tuse or abruptly pointed at the apex : berries glaucous. 2. N. Hugeri. 

 Leaf-blades wholly glabrous and glaucous beneath, thick during anthesis : an- 

 thers longer than the filaments. 3. N. Biltmoreana. 

 Plants furnished with tendrils : stems elongated, climbing. 

 Leaf-blades pubescent beneath. 



Peduncles fully twice as long as the subtending bracts, which are wholly dif- 

 ferent from the leaves. 4. N. diversifolia. 

 Peduncles shorter than the subtending bracts or slightly longer : leaves and 



bracts alike. 

 Leaf-blades ovate or elliptic-ovate : peduncles stout : sepals and petals of 



the staminate flowers about 5 mm. long. 5. N. pulveriilenta. 



Leaf-blades triangular-ovate : peduncles filiform : sepals and petals of the 



staminate flowers 2.5 mm. long. 6. N. tennis. 



Leaf-blades glabrous beneath. 



Peduncles becoming much longer than the subtending bracts : leaf-blades 



prominently 7-9-nervod. 7. N. herbacea. 



Peduncles shorter than the subtending bracts or slightly longer : leaf-blades 



prominently 5-nerved. 8. N. tamnifolia. 



1. Nemexia ecirrhata (Engelm. ) Small. Stems 3-6 dm. tall : leaf-blades ovate, 8-12 

 cm. long, acute or short-acuminate, pubescent beneath, but not especially so on the ribs 

 and the veins, prominently ribbed in age : sepals of the staminate flowers obovate or ob- 

 lanceolate, 4-5 mm. long: berries globular, purple-black, 9-11 mm. in diameter. 



In woods, Minnesota to the Indian Territory, Illinois and Arkansas. 



2. Nemexia Hugeri Small. Stems 2-5 dm. tall : leaf-blades oblong-oval, 9-14 cm. 

 long, broadly rounded and obtuse or abruptly pointed at the apex, pubescent beneath, es- 

 pecially on the ribs and the veins, prominently ribbed in age : sepals of the staminate 

 flowers oblong, 3-4 mm. long: berries globular, glaucous, 8-10 mm. in diameter. 



In woods, Tennessee to North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. 



