SMILACEAE 321 



1. 91. Virsiiiica, L. Leaves obovate-lanceolate, and ovate, 

 acuminate, sessile ; peduncles 3 to 6 or 8, terminal, nodding in 

 flower, erect in fruit. 



Gyromia Virginica. Nutt. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 234. 

 VIRGINIAN MEDEOLA. Indian Cucumber. Cucumber-root. 



Plant pale green. Rhizoma a horizontal oblong tuber, 1 to 2 inches long. Stem 

 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves of the lower verticil 3 or 4 inches long, of the upper 

 one, 1 to 2 inches in length, and^often stained at base, when the plant is in fruit. 

 Hah. Shaded, moist grounds ; about springs : frequent. Fl. May. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. The delicate white tuber has been thought to resemble the 

 cucumber, in taste ; and is reputed diuretic. 



ORDER CXI. LILIACEAE. 



Mostly herbs ; roots often bulb-bearing ; leaves sessile, or sheathing; flowers per- 

 fect, regular, the perianth mostly with 6 (rarely 4) lobes, or petal-like, parts, free 

 from the ovary; stamens as many as the lobes, or parts, of the perianth; anthers 

 iutrorse, erect, or incumbent; styles united; stigmas 3, sometimes united; fruit a 

 o-cclled loculicidal capsule, or sometimes a berry ; seeds few, or several ; embryo in 

 fleshy albumen. A large and interesting Order, some of the genera vying with, 

 the Rosaceae, in beauty. 



TRIBE 1. ASPARAGE^AE. 



Hoot fleshy and fascicled, or fibrous ; fruit a berry, 2- or 3-celled, and few-seeded. 



f Stem branching ; leaves numerously fasciculate. 



437. ASPAR'AGUS. L. 



[The ancient Greek name.] 



Perianth deeply 6-parted ; lobes linear-oblong, spreading at apex, 

 with the filaments partly adnate to their base ; anthers peltate. 

 Style short; stigmas 3. Berry globose, red when mature. Perennials: 

 unarmed, or aculeate ; rhizoma much branched and matted ; flowers 

 axillary, or lateral. 



1. A. OFFICIN\LIS, L. Unarmed; bushy; leaves setaceous and flexi- 

 ble ; peduncles mostly in pairs. 



OFFICINAL ASPARAGUS. Asparagus (corruptly, "Sparrow-grass"). 

 Plant smooth ; stem, 3 to 6 feet high, the turions, or young shoots, at first simple, 

 stout and fleshy, with appregsed scales instead of leaves finally much branched. 

 leaves unequal, % of ar inch to an inch, or more, in length, in fascicles of 3 to 10 or 

 1 2 (often 6). Peduncles about % an inch long, articulated above the middle, lateral 

 (not axillary), at the base of the alternate branches; flowers pale greenish yellow. 

 Hab. Gardens, Ac. Nat of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. Generally cultivated, for the young Turions, which afford 

 a favorite Vegetable dish, in the vernal season. 



f f S*em simple ; leaves solitary, alternate. 

 438. POL,YG01A v TU9f , Tournef. 



[Gr. Folyt, many, and i*mu, a knee; from its many-jointed rhizoma and stem.] 

 Perianth tubular, cylindrical, 6-lobed at summit. Stamens included. 

 Style slender; stigma capitate. Berry globose, bluish-black when 



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