NO. 25] Lily (Liliacecz). 173 



(W) Leaf with a distinct whitish bloom beneath. 



(5) S. glauca Walt. 



(d) Leaf without a distinct whitish bloom beneath. 

 (V) Leaves not contracted at the middle. Base 

 seldom or never heart-shaped. (7) S. 

 hispida, Muhl. 



(e) Leaves often contracted at the middle. Base 

 more or less heart-shaped. (8) S. Pseudo- 

 China, L. 



(<$) Leaves from oblong-lanceolate to very narrow. 

 Base tapering. Cluster-stem not longer than the 

 leaf-stem. (9) S. laurifolia, L. 



Fig. 81. (i) Carrion-Flower. S. herbacea, L. 



Flowers, greenish, ill-scented (like carrion), often in twenty- 

 to forty- (sometimes eighty-) blossomed clusters. 

 Cluster-stems, often four to five inches in length. May, 

 June. 



Leaves, usually two to five inches in length, lance-shape to 

 egg-shape or rounded, smooth (excepting in the 

 variety), distinctly seven- or nine-veined. Base, 

 heart-shape to squared or blunt. Apex, pointed, 

 often bristle-tipped. Leaf-stem, one third to one and 

 one half inches or more in length, bearing thread-like 

 tendrils. 



Stem, herbaceous, unarmed, three to fifteen feet in length. 



Fruit, red, ripening to bluish-black, very abundant. Seeds, 

 two to six. 



Found, common in thickets and low grounds, from Canada 



to Florida and Texas. 

 A very variable species. The tubers of the root-stock 



are short and thick. 



Var. puberuldnta, G. has the leaves somewhat downy 

 beneath. 



According to Thoreau, the odor of 6". herbdcea is equal 

 to that of "a dead rat in the wall." 



