SMILAX.] LILIACEM. 259' 



1. A. racemosa, Willd. Sp. PL ii, 162 ; Roxb. FL 2nd. ii, 151 ; 

 F. B. I. vi, 316 ; Watt E. D. ; Collett FL Siml. 523 ; Prain Beng. 

 PL 1070 ; Kanjilal For. FL (ed. 2) 409 ; Gamble. Man. 724 ; Bran- 

 dis Ind. Trees 642. Vern. Satmuli (Hind.), Satrawal (Dehra Dun),. 

 Chatawal (Rohilkhand), Sahasmur (N. Oudh). Wild Asparagus. 



A tall much-branched scandant spinous undershrub with tuberous 

 roots. Stem woody, terete ; branches 3-quetrous, smooth, striate ; 

 spines suberect or subrecurved, J-J in. long. Cladodes J-l in. long, 

 in tufts of 2-6, spreading, falcate, acuminate, channelled beneath. 

 Racemes solitary or in fascicles, 1-2 in. long, simple or branched; 

 pedicels very slender, in. long, jointed at the middle. Perianth T ^- 

 J in. in diam. ; lobes spreading. Anthers minute, purplish. Ovules 

 6-8 in each cell. Berry J-J in. in diam. 



Very common within the area of this flora, flowering after the rains,, 

 when it becomes conspicuous by its masses of white fragrant flowers. 

 DISTRIB. : Throughout trop. and subtrop. India, and in Ceylon, 

 and up to 4,000 ft. on the Himalaya from Kashmir eastwards. It 

 occurs also in Trop. Africa, Java and Australia. The white tuberous 

 roots of this plant are collected for food and constitute a kind of white 

 musali. They are also used medicinally. 



2. A. adscendens, Roxb. FL Ind. ii, 153 ; Royle III., 393 ; F. B. 

 I. vi. 317 ; Watt E. D. ; Collett FL Siml. 523 ; Kanjilal For. FL 

 fed. 2) 409. Vern. Satdwa, sat-muli. 



A suberect prickly shrub, with white tuberous roots. Stems tall,. 

 stout, suberect, terete, smooth, white, much branched ; branch-lets 

 ascending, ashy-white grooved and angled, the angles minutely 

 scabrid ; spines J-J in. long, stout, straight. Cladodes in dense 

 tufts of 6-20, \-2 in. long, slender, filiform, terete, soft, suberect or 

 curved. Racemes 1-2 in. long, many-fid. ; pedicels jointed above or 

 below the middle ; bracts minute. Flowers 1 in. in diam. Perianth 

 segments spreading. Ovules many in each cell. Berry J-J in. 

 diam. 1- seeded. 



Dehra Dun, in Sal forests ; Bohilkhand (T. Thomson) N. Oudh, in 

 the distircts of Kheri and Gonda (Duthie). DISTKIB. : Western 

 Himalaya from Kumaon eastwards to Hazara, extending to Afghan- 

 istan. The tuberous roots are pickled, and the young shoots are 

 eaten as a vegetable. 



2. SMILAX, Linn. ; FL Brit vi, 302. 



Climbing shrubs rarely erect herbs, Leaves alternate, rarely 

 opposite, persistent, 3-5-nerved and recticulate ; petiole with 



