Smilurim. LILIACEyE. -iqi 



14. SMILACINA, Dcsf. Fai.sk Solomon's Skai,. 

 Perianth persistent, of G distinct spreading white 1- (rarely 3-) nerved segments. 

 Stamens 6 ; filaments subulate, inserted at the base of the segments ; anthers rminded 

 or oblong, versatile, introrse. Ovary sessile, ovate, 3-celled : style short and thick, 

 3-lobed at the summit, persistent : ovules 2 in each cell, usually collateral. Fruit 

 a berry, globose, 1 - 3-sceded. Seeds subglobose, with thin testa and horny albu- 

 men,— Stems simple, leafy, from running rootstocks, bearing a terminal raceme or 

 panicle of small flowers with minute bracts ; leaves alternate, mostly sessile, oblong 

 or lanceolate, many-nerved ; i)cdicels jointed at the summit. — Tovaria, :Necker" 

 J'.aker, Journ. Linn. Soc. xiv, 304. 



A genus of 19 species, of Ciistern Asia and North America from tlie Arctic Ocean to Guatemala 

 Seven sjiecies are exclusively Asiatic, ami as many more belong to Jlcxico and Cential America' 

 while two are common to the noitliei n iwrtions of both continents. Neckei's name for the genus 

 IS the older and has been adopted by Mr. Pniker in liis revision ; as, however, a genus Tovaria 

 had already been estaldished iii another order, it seems best, in order to avoid confusion, to retain 

 Deslontanie s familiar name. 



* F/owcrs 2->an{dcd, venj small: stamens exceedinrj the ohlong-lanceolate jyerianth- 



segments. 



_ 1. S. amplexicaulis, Nutt. Ttootstock stout, elongated: stem 1 to 2^ feet 

 high, covered wi^tli a short spreading pubescence or rarely glabrous : leaves ovate to 

 lanceolate, 3 to 7 inches long, strictly sessile and ample.xicaul or sometimes with a 

 very short dilated clasping jictiole, acute, rounded at base, usually Avitli somewhat of 

 a very short spreading still' pubescence : i)anicle sessile or shortly poduncled, oblong, 

 2 to G inches long; pedicels solitary, very short (usually less' than a line longf: 

 perianth less than a line long : lilaments more or less broadly subulate, often broader 

 than the segments : style nearly as long as the ovary : berry light red finely dotted 

 M'ith purple, 2 lines or more in diaiueter, usually 1 -seeded : seed whitish, U lines 

 l)road.— Journ. Philad. Acad. vii. SS. S. 7-acemosa, yaw anip/exica ulis, ^Vatsun, 

 r>ot. King Exp. 345. Tovaria racemosa, Laker, 1. c. 570, in part. 



In the Coast I'anges (Monterey County, Bvever) :\m\ Sierra Nevada to the British boundary, 

 and in the mountains eastward to Utah and New Mexico. It differs from the eastern .S'. racemosa 

 Jnost evidently in its usually sessile leaves more aliruptly rounded at base and less distinctly or 

 not at all acuminate, in its much longer style, and considerably smaller seeds. In the Coast 

 lianges it usually has a larger and broailer panicle, the leaves not unfierpiently somewhat petio- 

 late and occasionally shortly acuminate. Specimens collected near Oakland (Sanborn, Brcuxr) 

 have softer and longer pubescence, jjcdicels slender and 1 to 2.i lines long, the stamens twice 

 longer than the iterianth, and the ovary narrowed toward the base. 



* « Flowers larger, in a simple feiv-floicered raceme: stamens shorter than the 



segments. 



2. S. sessilifolia, Nutt. Pootstock slender : stem a foot or two high, usually 

 fle.xuoiis above : leaves lanceolate, 2 to G inches long, acute or acuminate, sessile and 

 clasjiing, usually flat and spreading, more or less pubendent : raceme open, sessile or 

 shortly i)cdiincle(l, the spreading solitary jiedicels 2 to 7 lines long : jierianth-segments 

 H to 4 lines long, lanceolate, rarely 3-ncrved : stamens half as long: style nearly 

 equalling tjie ovary: berry nearly black, globose, 3 to 5 lines in diameter, 1-3- 

 seeded : seeds brown, subovoid, \h lines long. — Tovaria sessilifolia, Baker, 1. c. 

 OGG. S. stellata, "Watson, I>ot. King Kxp. 345, mainly. 



Fre([uent in the mountains on stream-banks and in damp places, from ftfonterey County to 

 British Columbia and eastward to the Wahsatch. It has been usually confounded with the fol- 

 lowing species, which it sometimes closely approaches. 



3. S. Stellata, Desf. JS'^ear the last: leaves usually ascemliiig and foMed, 

 closely clasjjing the stem : pedicels of the shorter and more crowded raceme only a 



