32 SMILACACEAE. 



Styles present, distinct or united : stigmas terminal : erect plants. 



Herbs with bulbs, corms, or rootstocks. Fam. 1. Convallaeiaceab. 



Shrubby plants with caudices, or trees. Fam. 2. Dracaenaceae. 



Styles wanting : stigmas introrse : vines. Fam. 3. Sjiilacaceae. 



Family 1. CONVALLARIACEAE. Lily-of-the-valley FAMrLY. 



Perennial herbs with rootstocks. Leaves alternate, sometimes all basal. 

 Flowers in a terminal cluster, raceme, or panicle, or axillary. Calyx of 2 

 or 3 sepals. Corolla of 2 or 3 petals, together with the sepals sometimes 

 partially united. Androecium of 4 or 6 stamens. Gynoeeium of 2 or 3 

 united carpels. Fniit a beny or rarely a tardily dehiscent capsule. 



1. SANSEVIERIA Thimb. Succulent herbs with stout rootstocks. 

 Leaves erect, flat or nearly terete. Flowers in narrow panicles, erect or 

 ascending. Perianth white or greenish: lobes narrow, about as long as the 

 cylindric tube. Capsule membranous. Seeds baccate. 



1. S. guineensis Willd. Leaves 4-10 dm. tall, mottled: panicle many-flowered: 

 perianth-lobes linear or linear-spatulate, 14-18 mm. long, curled back. — 

 Cultivated grounds and waste places, Key West. Nat. of Africa. — [E. K.] — 

 {Bah., Cuba, Ant.) — African bowstring-hemp. 



Family 2. DRACAENACEAE. Yucca Family. 



Shrubby plants or trees, with woody generally copiously leafy caudices. 

 Leaves alternate: blades narrow, firm or rigid, sometimes filiferous. 

 Flowers in racemes or panicles terminating scape-like stems. Calyx of 3 

 generally white or pale sepals. Corolla of 3 petals nearly like the sepals. 

 Androecium of 6 stamens. Gynoeeium superior, of 3 united carpels. 

 Style stout, sometimes obsolete during anthesis. Fruit a primarilj'^ locu- 

 licidal capsule, sometimes indehiscent or baccate. 



1. YUCCA [Eupp.] L. Caudex commonly leafy throughout. Flowers 

 perfect, relatively large, in panicles or racemes. Sepals and petals several 

 nerved, deciduous. Capsule dehiscent or baccate. — Spanish-bayonet. 



1. Y. aloifolia L. Caudex often 1-2.5 m. tall, commonly branched: leaves 

 very numerous, spreading above, deflexed and deciduous below, scabrous- 

 margined: panicle ample and showy, 3-7 dm. long: sepals and petals 4-6 cm. 

 long: capsules 7-9 cm. long. — Coastal sand-dunes, U. S. keys. — [E. K.] — 

 (Ber., Bah. Ant.) — Spanish-dagger. 



Family 3. SMILACACEAE. Smilax Family. 



Perennial armed or unarmed vines. Leaves alternate: blades several- 

 ribbed and netted-veined, commonly persistent: petiole usually bearing a 

 pair of appendages. Flowers dioecious, in axillary peduncled umbels. 

 Perianth regular, usually green, that of the staminate flowers larger than 

 that of the pistillate. Calyx of 3 sepals. Corolla of 3 petals. Androecium 

 of 6 stamens: anthers erect. Gynoeeium 3-carpellary. Stigmas 3, sessile, 

 sometimes elongate. Fniit a beriy, with 3 bands of strengthening tissue 

 in the pulp connecting the base and upex. 



1. SMILAX [Tourn.] L. Leaf-blades leathery. Flowers not showy. 

 Berries red, blue, or black. Vigorous shoots often bear very large leaves. — 

 Greenbrier. Horsibrier. Smilax. 



