4C2 8J1ILACE2E. (SMILAX FAMILY.) 



* Leaves ovate or roundish, $-c., 7itost of then roundish or hart-shaped at the base, 

 5 - 9-nerved, the three middle nerves or ribs stronger and more conspicuous. 



+- Peduncles shorter or scarcely longer than the petioles: leaves thicfcish, inclining to 

 be evergreen, at feast southward, green both sides. 



1. S. Wsilteri, Pursh. Branches somewhat angled, prickly or unarmed ; 

 leaves ovate and somewhat heart-s/iaj)ed (3' -4^' long) ; berries red. (S. China, 



Walt.) S. New Jersey, and southward. July. 



2. S. rotundifolia, L. (COMMON GREENBRIER.) Stem armed with 

 8f attired prickles, as well as the terete branches; branch lets more or less 4- 

 angular ; leaves ovate or round-ovate, often broader than long, slightly heart-shaped, 

 abruptly short-pointed (2' -3' long) ; berries blue-black, with a bloom. (S. radii- 

 ca, L., is only a more deciduous and thin-leaved form.) Moist thickets; com- 

 mon, especially southward. June. Plant yellowish-green, often high-climbing. 

 Passes into var. QUADKANO CLARIS; the branches, and especially the branch- 

 lets, 4-angular, often square. (S. quadrangularis, Muld.) Penn., to Illinois, 

 and southward. 



-t- -- Peduncles longer than, but seldom twice the length of the petiole : leaves tardily 

 deciduous or partly persistent : berries black, with a bloom. 



3. S. glailca, Walt. Terete branches and somewhat 4-angular branch- 

 lets armed with scattered stout prickles, or naked ; leaves ovate, rarely subcor- 

 date, glaucous beneath and sometimes also above as well as the branchlets when 

 young (about 2' long), abruptly mucronate, the edges smooth and naked. (S. 

 Sarsaparilla, L., in part, but not as to syn. Bauhin, whence the name was taken. 

 S. caduca, Willd., &c. S. spinulosa, Smith? Torr. fl.) Dry thickets, c., S. 

 New York to Kentucky and southward. July. 



4. S. t;iiimoi<!<>s, L. Branches and the angular (often square) branch- 

 lots sparsely armed with short rigid prickles ; leaves varying from round-heart- 

 shaped and slightly contracted above the dilated base to fiddle-shaped and hal- 

 berd-shaped - 3-lobed, green and shining both sides, cuspidate-pointed, the margins 

 often somewhat bristly-eiliatc or spinulose. (S. Bona-nox, L., S. hastata, Wilhl., 

 S. panduratus, Pursh, &c., are all forms of this.) Thickets, New Jersey to Illi- 

 nois, and (chiefly) southward. July. 



--- Peduncles 2-4 times the length of the petiole: leaves ample (3'- 5' long), 

 thin or thinnish, green both sides : berries black : stem terete and branchlets nearly .*>. 



5. S llispida, Muhl. Rootstock cylindrical, elongated ; stem (climbing 

 hi^h) below densely In-set with long and weak blackish bristly prickles, the flowering 

 branchlets mostly naked ; leaves ovate and the larger heart-shaped, pointed, 

 slightly rough-margined, membranaceous and deciduous. Moist thickets, Pcnn. 

 and W. New York to Michigan. June. Peduncles l'-2' long. Sepals lau- 

 ccolatc, almost 3" long. 



6. S. Psciiclo-Clllllll, L. Eootstock tuberous; stems and branches un- 

 armed, or with very few weak prickles ; leaves ovate-heart-shaped, or on the 

 braneWefs ovate-oblong, cuspidate-pointed, often rough-ciliate, lx coining firm 

 in texture,; peduncles flat (!' -3' long). Dry or sandy soil, New Jersey to 

 Kentucky, and southward. July. 



