SMILACIXA 



SMILAX 



3173 





3621. Smilacina racemosa. (X about ? 5) 



Smilacinas are of easy culture in any good soil. They 

 prefer a rich loam in a moist but not wet partly shaded 

 place. They are handsome plants both in foliage and 

 flower, particularly when growing with natural com- 

 panions. S. racemosa is probably the most attractive. 



The plants may 

 be forced slowly 

 for bloom in the 

 late winter and 

 early spring. 



d a v ft r i c a , 

 Turcz . ; also 

 spelled dahwrica. 

 St. many-lvd., 

 rather pilose: Ivs. 

 alternate, semi- 

 clasping, oblong, 

 ^glabrous above, 

 rather pilose 

 beneath: racemes 

 terminal; pedicels 

 in pairs or ternate. 

 Dahuria and 

 Japan. Related 

 to S. stdlata, which 

 is distinguished 

 by the solitary 

 pedicel. 



p a nicula t a , 

 Mart. & Gal. Gla- 

 brous herb: sts. 

 erect: Ivs. ovate- 

 lanceolate, long- 

 acuminate, 5-6 in. 

 long, much nar- 

 rowed at the very 

 base, main nerves 

 5-7: panicle ter- 

 minal, racemosely branched, 234 in- long and as much 

 across, all parts snowy white: fls. about 4 lines across; 

 perianth-segms. elliptic; ovary ovoid. Mex. B.M. 8539. 



racemosa, Desf. (Vagnera racemosa, Morong). Figs. 

 3620, 3621. Rootstock rather stout: st. 1-3 ft. high: Ivs. 

 3-6 in. long, oblong-lanceolate or oval, sessile or nearly 

 so: fls. numerous, in a panicle: berry ^in. through. In 

 shaded or partly shaded places throughout the greater 

 part of the U. S.' B.B. (ed. 2) 1:515. A.G. 13:519. 



sessilifolia, Xutt. (Vagnera sessUifolia, Greene). 

 Rootstock slender: st. 1-2 ft. high, slender: Ivs. 2-6 in. 

 long, lanceolate, acute, flat and spreading: raceme 

 open, sessile, or short-peduncled: berry 3-5 lines 

 through. Early summer. Pacific States. 



stellata, Desf. (Vagnera stellata, Morong). Very near 

 to S. sesstiifolia: Ivs. usually folded and ascending: 

 raceme shorter and more crowded. Mav, June. Moist 

 soil, greater part of the U. S. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:516. 



trifdlia, Desf. (Vagnera trifdlia, Morong). Rootstock 

 slender: st. 2-15 in. high: Ivs. sessile, oval to oblong- 

 lanceolate. 2-5 in. long: fls. in a simple raceme, few to 

 several: berry J^in. through. Bogs and moist soil in the 

 S. and Asia. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:516. 



S. bifolia, Schult. f.=Maianthemum bifolium. 



F. W. BARCLAY. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD.! 



SMILAX (ancient Greek name). Liliaceje. The 

 greenbriers, useful for winter greens and outdoor 

 planting. 



Usually woody climbers with paired tendrils on the 

 base of the petiole; sometimes shrubs or herbaceous 

 perennials, young shoots little branched, old woody 

 shoots becoming much branched above; shoots arising 

 from a rootstock, slow-growing and woody or with 

 large fleshy tubers; in some species with long creeping 

 rhizomes: lower Ivs. reduced to scales, the upper simple 



or slightly lobed, 3-7 (or more) -nerved, deciduous to 

 completely evergreen, usually variable in outline on 

 different types of branches: fls. rather small, dioecious, 

 usually numerous in axillary peduncled umbels; pedi- 

 cels uniform in length: berries normally globose, 

 1-6-seeded, blackish or red. Over 200 species gener- 

 ally distributed over the world. 



The genus Smilax, of which there are twenty-five 

 species native to the United States, has been used very 

 little in this country for planting in ornamental grounds, 

 its value as a decorative plant having been largely 

 ignored. The vines of the wild plants have been 

 gathered locally for decorations and S. lanceolata. 

 the Florida smilax of the trade, is extensively shippea 

 from the southern states to the northern centers for 

 use in large decorations. Most of the common woody 

 species of the North are unsuited for planting in 

 restricted areas as they spread rapidly by underground 

 stems. None of the native species listed below is ordi- 

 narily handled by nurserymen. 



The smilax of florists is Asparagux asparagoides. See 

 p. 3175; also p. 409, Vol. I. 



aspera, 12. 

 australis, 13. 

 Bona-nox, 9. 

 eicelsa, 6. 

 glauca, 8. 

 berbacea, 1, 2. 



INDEX. 



hispida, 3. 

 inodora, 2. 

 lanceolata, 10. 

 lasioneuron, 2. 

 laurifolia, 11. 



mauritanica, 12. 

 Pseudo-china, 3. 

 rotundifolia, 5. 

 Sieboldii, 4. 

 Walter!, 7. 



KKY TO TH K SPECIES. 



A. Shoots herbaceous. 



B. Fls. carrion-scented 1. 



BB. Fls. not carrion-scented 2. 



IA. Shoots woody. 



B. Umbels in axils of normal Its. 

 c. Foliage completely deciduous. 

 D. Plant not at all glaucous: ber- 

 ries green-black, usually 1- 

 seeded: rootstock short, woody, 

 slow-growing, without long 

 rhizomes: spines long, slender, 

 black, dense below. 

 E. Lts. orbicular to orate, not 



crenulate 3. 



EE. Lts. triangular, ovate, crenu- 

 late 4. 



DD. Plant, i.e., pedicels, fls., and fr. 

 glaucous: berries S-seeded: 

 rootstocks long and creeping: 

 spines stout, few, never at 

 nodes. 

 E. Berries blue-black: ITS. broad, 



ovate: st. green 5. 



EE. Berries coral-red. 



F. Lts. broad-ovate: st. stout, 



green 6. 



FF. LTS. oblong: st. slender, 



brown 7. 



cc. Foliage at_ least partly evergreen. 

 D. Flowering in the spring: fr. 

 ripe the same season: b>s. 

 partly deciduous in the A".: 

 plants with long-creeping 

 rhizomes. 



E. LTS. glaucous, entire^mar- 

 gined: sts. glabrous below, 

 slender, brownish: berries 



S-seeded, blue-black 8. 



EE. Lvs. green, on vegetative sts. 

 usually hastate and spiny- 

 margined: sts. stout, green, 

 stellate pubescent below: ber- 

 ries 1-seeded, greenish black. 9. 

 DD. Flowering in the summer: fr. 

 ripe the next season: Ivs. ever- 

 green: underground sts. large, 

 short, fleshy tubers, without 

 long rhizomes. 



E. LTS. thin, lanceolate to ovate, 

 slightly glaucous beneath: 

 berries mostly S-seeded: not 

 a swamp plant 10. 



herbacea 

 lasioneuron 



hispida 

 Sieboldii 



rotundifolia 



ezcelsa 

 Walter! 



glauca 



Bona-nox 



lanceolata 



