Smilax."] lili ace jr. 371 



tlie filaments united in a column with 3 sessile anthers, the inner perianth- 

 segments and inner stamens entirely deficient. Female flowers not seen. 

 Berry 1- or 2-seeded. — S. hongkongensis, Seem. Bot. Her. 420. 

 Hongkong, Hance, Wright, Seemann. S. China {Gaudichaud) . 



2. ASPARAGUS, Linn. 



Flowers dioecious. Perianth of 6 distinct nearly equal spreading segments, 

 Stamens 6, free. Ovary 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. Style single, 

 with a 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a berry. Seeds albuminous, with a transverse 

 embryo. Rhizome creeping. Stems erect or with half-climbing branches. 

 Leaves usually clustered, subulate or laterally flattened (theoretically described 

 as abortive pedicels), surrounded by short scarious scales (theoretically consi- 

 dered to be leaves or bracts). Flowers small, axillary, solitary, clustered or 

 racemose. 



A considerable genus extending over the tropical and temperate regions of the Old World. 



1. A. lucidus, Lindl. ; Kunth, Enum. v. 71. Stems straggling or half- 

 climbing, much branched, attaining 2 or even 3 ft., very smooth and shining, 

 with short frequently reflexed prickles under most of the branches. Leaves 

 usually in threes, flat, linear, much falcate, almost pungent, not | in. long in 

 some specimens, above 1 in. in others. Flowers usually 2 or 3 together or 

 sometimes solitary, on pedicels of \ to 1-J lines. Perianth scarcely more than 

 1 liue long. — A. falcalus, Benth. in Lond. Journ. i. 493; Seem. Bot. Her. 

 421 ; not of Limueus. 



Common in the island, Hinds, Champion, and others. In S. China, Loochoo, and Japan. 

 Very near to the true A.falcatus, Linn., a Ceylon species, represented by Burmann with 

 leaves twice as long and more numerous in the clusters, and pedicels 2 or 3 times as long as 

 in A. lucidus. Hance suggests that our plant may be the Melanthhim cochinchinense, 

 Lour. Fl. Coch. 216. The description agrees well, except that the fruit is stated to be cap- 

 sular. Our specimens are indeed not in fruit, but there is every reason to believe it to be a 

 berry, as in all other Asparagi. 



3. OPHIOPOGON, Ker. 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth of 6 equal spreading segments. Stamens 

 6, free, inserted at their base ; filaments short. Ovary attached by a broad 

 base (or half-inferior), 3-celled, with 2 or few ovules in each cell. Fruit a 

 globular berry, 1- or few-seeded. — Ehizome creeping. Leaves radical, linear, 

 parallel-veined. Flowers small, usually blue, clustered, in a simple raceme 

 on a leafless scape. 



A small tropical or subtropical Asiatic genus. 



1. O. spicatus, Ker in Bot. Reg. t. 593 ; Kunth, Enum. v. 299. Leaves 

 tufted, on a short thick horizontal rhizome, 1 to 2 ft. long, grass-like, but 

 stiff. Scapes from 6 in. to 1 ft. high. Flowers blue, in clusters of 3 to 6 in 

 the axil of a scarious bract and surrounded by several smaller bracts, forming 

 a rather dense narrow raceme of 2 to 4 in. Pedicels 1 to 1| lines. Perianth- 

 segments usually about 2 lines long, but varying in size. Ovary inserted on 

 a broad base, but wholly superior. Style undivided. Berry blue, usually 1- 

 seeded. — 0. gracilis, Kunth, Enum. v. 298. 



2 b 2 



