SMILACACEAE. & 



1. R. Hystrix (Eraser) H. Wendl. A shrub with erect or spreading stems, 

 the rootstock proliferous. Leaf -blades 5-7 dm. in diameter, scurfy beneath: 

 petals ovate or orbicular: filaments surpassing the petals: drupe ovoid or oval- 

 ovoid, 18-25 mm. long, red. NEEDLE-PALM. BLUE-PALMETTO. 



Low hammocks, n. Fla. and the upper pen. (Cont.) Spr.-early sum. 



Order LILIALES. 



Herbs, commonly fleshy or grass-like, or vines or trees. Leaves with 

 narrow or dilated blades, sometimes scale-like or terete. Flowers perfect, 

 polygamous, or dioecious, complete, mostly regular. Perianth of 3-6 mem- 

 bers which are usually distinguishable into calyx and corolla, sometimes 

 partially united. Androecium of 3-6 stamens. Gynoecium 3-carpellary 

 or rarely 2-carpellary. Ovary superior or essentially so. Fruit capsular 

 or baccate. 



FAMILY 1. SMILACACEAE. SMILAX FAMILY. 



Perennial armed or unarmed vines. Leaves alternate : blades several- 

 ribbed and netted- veined, commonly persistent: petiole usually bearing a 

 pair of appendages. Flowers dioecious, in axillary peduncled umbels. 

 Perianth regular, usually green, that of the staminate flowers larg'er than 

 that of the pistillate. Calyx of 3 sepals. Corolla of 3 petals. An- 

 droecium of 6 stamens. Anthers erect. Gynoecium 3-carpellary. Stigmas 

 3, sessile, sometimes elongate. Fruit a berry with 3 bands of strengthening 

 tissue in the pulp connecting the base and apex. 



1. SMILAX L. Stems usually greatly elongate, with very hard wood, and 

 usually armed with prickles. Leaf-blades leathery, prominently ribbed. 

 Flowers often fragrant. Perianth green. Berries red, blue, or black. Vigorous 

 shoots often bear very large leaves. Spr.-sum. GREENBRIER. HORSEBRIER. 



Peduncles of pistillate plants much longer than the subtending petioles. 

 Leaf-blades glaucous beneath. 



Blades of the leaves, or bracts subtending the peduncles, little longer than 



broad : berries about 8 mm. in diameter. 1. 8. glauca. 



Blades of the leaves, or bracts subtending the pedun- 

 cles, twice or thrice as long as broad : berries about 



10 mm. in diameter. 2. 8. cinnamomifolia. 



Leaf-blades green on both sides. 



Peduncles of pistillate plants fully twice or four times 



as long as the petioles during anthesis. 3. 8. Pseudo-China. 



Peduncles of pistillate plants barely twice as long as 



the petioles. 4. S. Bona-Nox. 



Peduncles of pistillate plants shorter than the petioles or 



barely surpassing them. 

 Leaf-blades entire or merely erose. 



Leaf-blades neither auricled nor dilated at the base. 

 Foliage glabrous. 



Bracts subtending the peduncles with blades 



rounded or cordate at the base. 



Berries black or bluish-black. 5. S. rotundifolia. 



Berries red. 6. 8. Waltcri. 



Bracts subtending the peduncles with blades 

 acute, acuminate, or cuneate at the base. 

 Berries red : leaf-blades mostly 5-7-nerved. 

 Leaf-blades with lustrous upper sur- 

 face : berries 4-6 mm. in diameter. 7. 8. lanccolata. 

 Leaf-blades with dull upper surface : 



berries 6-10 mm. in diameter. 8. 8. Morongii. 



Berries black : leaf-blades mostly 3-nerved. 9. 8. laurifolia. 

 Foliage pubescent. 10. 8. pumila. 



Leaf-blades more or less strongly auricled at the base. 11. .S'. Beyrichii. 

 Leaf-blades spiny-toothed. 12. S. havancnsis. 



