SMILAX 



SNAKEROOT 



3175 



climbing to the tops of tall trees often 70-80 ft., much 

 branched above: Ivs. thin, evergreen, glaucous beneath, 

 ovate to lanceolate, 2-4 in. long: peduncles shorter than 

 petioles, flowering in summer: young berries remaining 

 over winter and ripening the next summer; berries 3- 

 seeded, %w. or more diam. Va. to Fla., Ark., and Texas. 

 July, Aug. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:530. The best American 

 smilax for cult, as an ornamental vine. 



11. laurifSlia, Linn. FALSE CHIXA BRIER. Similar 

 to the above in habit: Ivs. narrow, oblong, thick, green 

 on both sides, turning dark brown on wilting: berries 

 smaller, 1-seeded. X. J. south to Fla. and Texas. July, 

 Aug. B.B. (ed. 2) 1:530. This plant is always found 

 near water, usually associated with S. Walteri. 



12. aspera, Linn. A half -hardy shrub often somewhat 

 scandent, unarmed or with spines: Ivs. ovate-deltoid or 

 lanceolate, 1^-6 in. long, usually blotched with white, 

 5-9-nerved: fls. white, sweet-scented, in many-fld. 

 umbels: berries K m - thick, usuallv 3-seeded, shining 

 red. S. Eu. to India. Gn. 28, p. 615; 62, p. 397. G. 

 6:315 (as S. tamnoides). Var. mauritanica, Gren. & 

 Godr. A more robust form with larger Ivs. and fewer 

 spines. Canaries, S. Eu., N. Afr. 



13. australis, Brown. Sts. terete, robust, rarely 

 spined: Ivs. ovate-elliptic, base obtuse, 2-5 in. long, 

 7-nerved: umbels 1-2 on a short flowering branch with- 

 out Ivs., 15-20-fld. from a globose bracted receptacle: 

 berries about }^in. diam. Austral. A tropical plant 

 unsuited to our colder climate. 



S. argyrea. Land. & Rod. Tender foliage plant: st. wiry, slender, 

 armed with short, stout thorns: Ivs. lanceolate, becoming 8-10 in. 

 long, dark green, blotched with gray, 3-nerved, short-petioled: fls. 

 and fr. unknown. Bolivia. I.H. 39:152. J.H. III. 46:77. According 

 to G.F. 8:305 the above species is a robust healthy plant doing well 

 in a moderate temperature and quickly forming ornamental speci- 

 mens. It should be given a rich, fibrous soil and a light and sunny 

 position. It may be prop, by half-ripe cuttings of the side shoots 

 with 2-3 eyes inserted in a moderately warm bed. This may be any 

 one of a number of S. American species. The variegated foliage is 

 found in practically all of the woody plants of this genus, being 

 Strongly developed in S. glauca, S. Bona-nox and S. lanceolata. 



J. B. NORTON. 



SMILAX, FLORISTS'. The smilax of florists is an 

 Asparagus (A. asparagoides, page 409). It is one of 

 the most popular of all greenhouse vines for use in 

 decoration. 



Commercially, smilax is grown in deep solid beds 

 under glass, and the tall growth is tied to strings. These 

 strings are cut for sale. Some growers do not renew their 

 beds of smilax for three or four years. It is doubtless 

 most profitable to replant every year with young stock, 

 grown from seed. It is a heavy feeder. A strong loam 

 with one-fifth half-rotted cow-manure is the best com- 

 post for the bed. A light house is not essential. The 

 middle of an equal-span house running north and south 

 is an ideal place for it, if there is height sufficient to run 

 up the strings 7 or 8 feet. Plant as early as possible in 

 July. Many florists who grow a few hundred strings of 

 smilax make the mistake of putting them in a cool- 

 house. It will grow in a temperature of 50, but not 

 profitably; 60 at night, and even 65, is the better 

 temperature. The plants should be 8 inches apart in 

 the row and 10 inches between rows. Red-spider 

 attacks the smilax, but daily syringing is a sure pre- 

 ventive. When cutting the strings, avoid picking out 

 one here and there. Begin to cut at one end of the bed, 

 and as much as possible clear off all the strings, because 

 when denuded of so much growth the fleshy roots are 

 liable to rot if over-watered; little water is needed 

 till young growth starts. Care should also be taken in 

 cutting, for many times there will be several young 

 growths a foot or so high that can be saved for a future 

 string, and they may be useless if cut. Good drainage 

 should always be provided. 



Smilax for planting in July should be raised from 

 seed sown in February. When 2 or 3 inches high, and 

 showing its character-leaves, it should be potted in 2- 

 inch pots. In May, the plants should go into 3-inch 



pots. It is very important that the first growth, which 

 is always weak, should be made in these 3-inch pots; 

 then, when planted out, the first growth in the beds is 

 strong enough to make salable strings. Never neglect 

 tying up smilax as soon as the preceding crop is cut. 

 For this purpose use silkaline or similar green twine. 

 Contrary to what is the case with many plants, the 

 hotter smilax is grown the hardier and more durable 

 the leaves, providing it is not cut prematurely. 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 



SMITHIANTHA (Smith's flower, named for Miss 

 Matilda Smith, botanical artist, Kew). A name pro- 

 posed for the species of Naegelia of Regel (which see), a 

 name which had been given four years earlier to a 

 genus of fungi; it is accepted by Fritsch in Engler & 

 Prantl's "Pflanzenfamilien." The names under Smithi- 

 antha of the cult, kinds are : S. cinnabarina, Kuntze, 5. 

 zebrina, Kuntze, S. multiflora, Fritsch (S. amabilis, 

 Kuntze), S. achimenoides, Fritsch. 



SMODINGIUM (Greek, indurated mark; from the 

 callous fr.). Anacardiacex. Glabrous shrub, allied to 

 Rhus: Ivs. alternate, long-petioled, trifoliate; the Ifts. 

 lanceolate, coarsely serrate: fls. minute, in terminal 

 pubescent panicles, polygamous; calyx 5-toothed, per- 

 sistent; petals 5, oblong, spreading, deciduous; disk 

 small, annular; stamens 5; ovary free, sessile, 1-celled: 

 fr. compressed, winged-margined, oblique-oblong, vit- 

 tate on both sides; the shell leathery. One species, S. Afr. 

 S. argidum, Mey. Erect or climbing shrub with striate 

 branches: Ivs. palmately 3-foliate; Ifts. 4-5x1 in., 

 lanceolate acuminate, coarsely and sharply toothed: fls. 

 in an ample panicle. S. Afr. R.H. 1908, p. 385. It has 

 been mentioned in cult, in the warm part of the U. S. 



SMOKE TREE: Cotinus Coggygria. 



SMUT. Diseases of many cultivated cereal grasses 

 and other plants caused by the attacks of fungi of the 

 order Ustilaginales. The mycelium sometimes produces 

 swellings on various parts of the host (or attacked 

 plant), the swellings being eventually filled with 

 brownish or blackish spores known as chlamydospores, 

 which emerge, as a fine dust-like powder, when the 

 outer membrane of the tissues bursts or cracks. The 

 chlamydospores produce upon germination a structure 

 known as a promycelium (basidium) which gives rise 

 to lateral or terminal sporidia (basidiospores) . The 

 smut on Indian corn may be taken as typic. The dis- 

 ease usually appears first on the leaves, afterward at 

 the junction of leaf-sheath and blade; finally the ear of 

 corn is attacked, and the tassel. On the leaves blisters 

 are found; on the ear, large whitish polished swellings 

 appear. As the spores mature, the swellings become 

 darker in color, and the inclosing membrane finally 

 ruptures, exposing the dark olive-green mass of spores 

 which are 8 to 12 M (Greek micron) and are beset with 

 fine spines. Unlike most other cereals, maize can be 

 inoculated at any age. Several smuts have been de- 

 scribed, viz., loose smut of oats (Ustilago avenae), maize 

 and teosinte smut (Ustilago zea?), loose smut of wheat 

 (Ustilago trititi), smut of blue-stem grass (Sorospo- 

 rium syntherismss), rye smut (Urocystis occidta), onion 

 smut (Urocystis cepulas), and colchicum smut (Urocystis 

 colchici). For the loose smut of oats and wheat, the 

 treatment of the seeds with hot water before planting is 

 efficacious. The corn smut is best controlled by destroy- 

 ing the affected plants before the spores mature. The 

 onion smut is due to infected soil which may be treated 

 with sulfur, or formalin. J OHN w. HARSHBERGER. 



SNAKE CUCUMBER: A form of Cucumis Melo. S. Gourd: 

 Trichosanthes. Snakehead: Chdone. 



SNAKEROOT: Black S.: Cimicifuga racemosa and Sanicuia 

 marilandica. Button S. : Liatris. Canadian S.: Asarum. Seneca 

 S.: Polygala Senega. White S.: Eupatorium ageratoides. 



