Kuscus.] LILIACE^E. 403 



anthers sessile, cells diverging below. Ovary enclosed in a fleshy cup 

 (staminal) 3-celled ; style short, stigma discoid ; ovules few. Berry usually 

 1-celled. Seeds solitary globose, or 2 plano-convex, testa thin, adherent, 

 albumen horny ; embryo minute, lateral, radicle far from the hilum. — 

 Distrib. Temp. Europe, W. Asia, N. Africa ; species 2-3. — Etym. 

 obscure. 



R. aculea'tus, L. ; flowers 1-2 subsessile on the ovate spinescent 



clad odes. 



Copses and woods, from Norfolk, Leicester, and S. Wales southd., rare ; 

 naturalized in Scotland and Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. Feb.-April. — 

 Stems 10-24 in., tufted, branched, erect, stout, angled, young shoots scaly. 

 Cladodes §-l§ in., twisted at the base. Flowers § in. diam., bracteate and 

 bracteolate, males on narrower cladodes. Berry § in. diam., bright red, 

 rarely yellow. — Distrib. From France southd., N. Africa, W. Asia. 



2. ASPARAGUS, L. ASPARAGUS. 



Rootstock stout, creeping. Stem slender, branched, terete or angled 

 (sometimes spiny and climbing). Leaves minute scales, bearing in their 

 axils fascicles of needle-like branches ("cladodes)." Flowers small, 

 1-2-sexual, pendulous, axillary, honeyed ; pedicel jointed. Perianth 

 campanulate, segments connate at the base. Stamens on the base of the 

 segments ; anthers oblong. Ovary 3-gonous ; styles combined, stigmas 

 3 ; cells 2- or several-ovuled. Berry globose. Seeds 3-6, testa black 

 brittle ; embryo dorsal, clavate, radicle far from the hilum. — Distrib. 

 Temp, and trop. Asia, Africa ; species 100. — Etym. The old Greek 

 name. 



A. officinalis, L. ; stems annual suberect terete flexuous, branches 

 slender. 

 Coasts of Wales, Cornwall, and Dorset, rare ; naturalized elsewhere ; Tramore, 



Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June-Aug. — Rootstock 1-2 ft., prostrate ; 



young shoots scaly below, scales triangular. Cladodes J-2 in. Flowers 1-2, 



axillary, 1-sexual, dirty white, or yellow with red veins, males the largest; 



pedicel as long, jointed at the middle. Berry £ in. diam., red. — Distrib. 



From Sweden southd. (excl. Greece), N. Africa, Siberia; introd, in N. 



America. — Diuretic. Cultivated since the Roman period. 



3. POLYGON A'TUM, Tournef. 



Rootstock creeping. Stem leafy. Leaves alternate opposite or whorled. 

 Flowers axillary, solitary or racemed, pendulous, white green or purplish, 

 honeyed, homogamous, ebracteate. Perianth tubular- campanulate, mouth 

 6-cleft, outer lobes subvalvate with replicate edges. Stamens on the 

 middle of the tube, included. Ovary and fruit of Convallaria. — Distrib. 

 Europe, N. Asia, Himalaya, N. America ; species about 23. — Etym. iroAris 

 and y6w, alluding to the many nodes (knees). 



1. P. verticilla'tum, All. ; stem angled, leaves whorled narrow-lanceo- 

 late, perianth constricted in the middle, filaments papillose. 



D I) 2 



