516 SMIL AX 



high a handsome cheerful evergreen, with graceful and fragrant, if not showy 

 flowers. 



Var. MACULATA, De Candolle. Leaves usually blotched with white. 

 Native of N. India, etc. 



S. BONA-NOX, LimiCEUS. STRETCHBERRY. 



A deciduous or partially evergreen climber, with angular or square 

 branchlets, slightly armed with short, stout prickles. Leaves very variable; 

 roundish, heart-shaped, fiddle-shaped, or spear-shaped ; i^ to 4^- ins. long ; 

 always pointed, green and glossy on both sides, often bristly or prickly at 

 the margins and on the nerves beneath, five- to nine-nerved ; stalk j to \ in. 

 long. Flowers deep green, produced in umbels, the main-stalk of which is 

 \ to i in. long. Berries black with a bluish bloom, round, \ in. across ; 

 six to twelve, sometimes more, in an umbel. 



Native of the eastern United States from Massachusetts southwards ; 

 introduced in 1739. A hardy species, distinguished from the also black- 

 fruited S. rotundifolia by the longer-stalked umbels and bristly margined 

 leaves. 



S. CANTAB, Lynch. CAMBRIDGE SMILAX. 



An evergreen climber reaching 12 ft. or more high ; stems round, armed 

 with sturdy unequal prickles, and furnished with curious minute tufts of 

 bristles; branches square, often unarmed. Leaves of thin texture, triangular, 

 with the base deeply heart-shaped, the apex pointed; the largest 5 ins. long, 

 rather more in width; five-nerved, green on both surfaces, with a few grey 

 spots on the upper one, the margins slightly bristly. Flowers in umbels of 

 eight to twelve, the main-stalk as long or rather longer than the leaf-stalk. 



Probably a native of N. America, but of unknown origin, having been 

 first described (The Garden, vol. 56, p. 505) by Mr Lynch from a plant 

 growing against a wall in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, where it has 

 stood for many years. It is a male plant, and may prove to belong to a 

 species previously named. 



S. CHINA, Linnceus. CHINA ROOT. 



A deciduous rambling shrub, with round stems sparingly armed with 

 slightly recurved prickles. Leaves very variable, roundish ovate, or broadly 

 oval, or sometimes broader than long, ending in a short abrupt point, the 

 base tapered or truncate or slightly heart-shaped ; five- or seven-veined ; 

 stalk \ to i in. long. Flowers yellowish green, often numerous in umbels, 

 the main-stalk of which is about i in. long. There are often over twenty 

 flowers in an umbel. Fruit f in. in diameter, globose, bright red. 



Native of China and Japan, where it is frequent and widely spread ; 

 introduced in 1759, now uncommon unless some of the numerous smilaxes 

 introduced by Wilson from China prove to be it. It has a large fleshy root- 

 stock, said to be eaten by the Chinese ; it also yields the drug known as 

 " China root " once highly esteemed as a remedy for gout, 



S. EXCELS A, Linnceus. 



A tall evergreen climber, with squarish stems and branches armed with 

 flat, stiff spines, J to \ in. long. Leaves unarmed, broadly ovate, heart- 

 shaped or truncate at the base, pointed; \\ to 3^ ins. long, often as broad 

 or broader than long ; five- or seven-nerved^ green on both sides ; stalk to 



