Smilax.l liliace.e. 37I 



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

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

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

 Won^iong, Hance, Wn(jht,Seemaiin. S. Cliiua [Gaudichaud). 



2. ASPARAGUS, Linn. 



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

 Stamens 6, free. Ovary 3-celled, with 2 o\ules in each cell. Style sino-le. 

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

 embryo. Rhizome creeping. Stems erect or with half-clind)ing 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 cousiderable genus extending over the tropical and temperate regions of the Old "World. 



1. A. luciduSy Lliidl. ; Kimth,Enmn. v. 71. Stems straggling or half- 

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

 with short frequently reflexed prickles under most of t:he 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 1 lines. Perianth scarcely more than 

 1 line long. — A. falcaim, Benth. in Lond. Journ.i. 493; Seeni. Bot. Her. 

 421 ; not of Linnseus. 



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

 Very near to the true A.falcaius, Linn., a Ceylon species, represented by 13urmann 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 ])!ant may be the Ihdanthiuhi cochitichinense. 

 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 

 ben-y, as in all other Asparagi. 



3. OPHIOPOGOTQ", 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. — Rhizome creeping. Leaves radical, linear, 

 parallel-veined. Flowers small, usuall\ 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 ; Kiinth, Bnnm. v. 299. Leaves 

 tufted, on a short tiiick 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 3- lines. Perianth- 

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

 a broad base, biit Avholly superior. Style undivided. Berry blue, usually 1- 

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



2 B 2 



