3174 



SMILAX 



SMILAX 



EE. Lvs. thick, narrow-oblong, 

 green beneath: berries 1- 

 seeded: growing in swamps .11. laurif olia 

 BB. Umbels borne on special leafless 

 flowering branches on the old wood: 

 exotic species. 



c. Flowering branch spike-like, with 

 numerous umbels: plant and Ivs. 



spiny 12. aspera 



CC. Flowering branch short, with 1 or 2 



umbels: plant unarmed 13. australis 



1. herbacea, Linn. A hardy perennial vine 4-10 ft. 

 high, unarmed: Ivs. ovate to lanceolate, acute to cuspi- 

 date, obtuse or cordate at base, long-petioled, 7-9- 

 nerved, glabrous and glaucous beneath: umbels 15-80- 

 fld., long-peduncled: fls. carrion-scented: berry bluish 

 black, about J^in. diam., normally 3-6-seeded. April- 

 June. N. E. U. S. B.M. 1920. B.B. (ed. 2.) 1:527. 

 This species is undesirable on account of the strong 

 carrion odor of the fls. There are several herbaceous 

 species in N. Amer. and E. Asia, but only this and the 

 following have been intro. to the trade. 



2. lasioneuron, Hook. (S. herbacea var. inodora, 

 Hort. Nemexia herb&cea var. melica, A. Nels). Similar 

 to the above but with the Ivs. pulverulent-pubescent 

 beneath: peduncles shorter than the Ivs.: fls. not 

 carrion-scented. From Colo, to Man. in the Great 

 Plains and E. Rocky Mts. Distinguished from the 

 other herbaceous forms by the lack of the carrion odor. 



3. hispida, Muhl. (*S. Pseudo-china, Auth., not Linn.). 

 BAMBOO BRIER. Fig. 3623. Rootstock short, woody, 

 slow-growing, never spreading far: sts. clustered, high- 

 climbing, 20-50 ft., green, densely spiny below, unarmed 

 or nearly so above: spines straight, black, slender, usu- 

 ally most numerous at lower nodes, never on upper 

 nodes: Ivs. ovate, larger ones heart-shaped, deciduous: 

 peduncle longer than the petiole. Conn, to Minn., 

 south to N. C. and Texas, absent from the coast. B.B. 

 (ed. 2) 1 : 529. G.F. 5 : 53 (adapted in Fig. 3623) .This is 

 the only one of the northern species that does not spread 

 rapidly by rootstocks; by proper attention to pruning 

 this species will make an upright hedge-plant of merit. 



4. Sieboldii, Miq. Closely related to S. hispida from 



which it differs in 

 its weaker habit, 

 more pointed nar- 

 rower Ivs. which in 

 the growing plant 

 are distinctly crenu- 

 late: peduncles 

 fewer-fid, and little 

 longer than peti- 

 oles. Japan and 

 Korea. 



5. rotundi folia, 

 Linn. HORSE- 

 BRIER. Rootstock 

 scarcely tuberous, 

 long -creeping: sts. 

 stout, green, often 

 angled, never spined 

 at nodes: spines 

 stout, few, black- 

 tipped, straight, 

 often absent on 

 flowering branches: 

 Ivs. ovate to or- 

 bicular: peduncle 

 scarcely longer than 

 the petiole: berries 

 blue - black, glau- 

 cous, less than J^in., 

 3 -seeded. Nova 

 Scotia to 111., south 

 3622. Smilax glauca. ( X about y 2 ) to Ga. and Texas. 



The common horse-brier of the E. U. S. B.B. (ed. 2) 

 1 :528. A rank weedy vine with nothing to recommend 

 it for general planting as it spreads rapidly by under- 

 ground rhizomes. 



6. excelsa, Linn. Similar to the above in habit: sts. 

 large, angled, with few heavy spines: Ivs. heavier and 

 larger: fls. 3-10 in umbel: berries K m - diam., coral-red. 

 Persia, S. Eu. to Azores. 



3623. Smilax hispida. ( X about 



7. Waited, Pursh. Underground sts. slender, creep- 

 ing: st. slender, terete, brownish: armed below with 

 stSf short spines, naked above: Ivs. ovate to oblong: 

 umbels few-fld. on short peduncles: berries over M m -> 

 densely packed in umbels, bright coral-red, white- 

 berried sports are known. Swamps in sandy regions, 

 N. J. to Fla. west to Mississippi River Valley. B.B. 

 (ed. 2) 1:530. The berries of this species are useful 

 for winter decorations in the holiday season. 



8. glafcca, Walt. CAT-BRIER. Fig. 3622. Under- 

 ground sts. spiny, tuberous but with long slender 

 rhizomes: sts. slender, brown, spines below, disappear- 

 ing above, when present always some at nodes: spines 

 stout, recurved: the entire ovate Ivs. and often whole 

 plant glaucous: berries 3-seeded, small, peduncles and 

 pedicels slender, longer than petioles. Dry ground, 

 Mass, to Fla. and Texas. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:528. G.F. 

 5:425 (adapted hi Fig. 3622). Ordinarily counted a 

 bad weed, but perhaps of use in large landscape 

 plantings. 



9. B6na-n<5x, Linn. SAW-BRIER. Underground sts. 

 spiny, often with large tubers, also long, creeping 

 rhizomes: sts. stout, green, densely covered with stiff 

 spines below, lower part of large sts. with a charac- 

 teristic stiff stellate pubescence not found elsewhere in 

 the genus: Ivs. variable, on vegetative branches dis- 

 tinctly hastate or with basal lobes, spiny on margins and 

 midnerve below, smooth and green on both sides; upper 

 Ivs. triangular, ovate, thick, fine net-veined: peduncles 

 much longer than petioles, flat, many-fld.: berries 1- 

 seeded, black, not glaucous. Va. and Fla. west to Kans. 

 and N. Mex. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:529. A rank-growing 

 vine that becomes a bad weed along borders of woods 

 and in half-wooded pastures. 



10. lanceolate, Linn. FLORIDA SMILAX. Under- 

 ground sts. short, large, fleshy tubers, densely clus- 

 tered, suggesting large potatoes: sts. stout, often ^in. 

 diam., lightly scabrous, glaucous when young, spiny 

 below with stout recurved spines, unarmed above, 



