2gg LILIACE.E. Xtropliijllum. 



X. DouGLASil, Watson, fouiid in tlie mountains from tlie Columbia to Montana, is a similar 

 species witii a narrower raceme of smaller (lowers ; stamens includuil ; styles a line long ; caiJsule 

 cordate-ovate, 2 lines long, the very abruptly acute cells usually separating and then dehiscing 

 loculicidally ; seeds shorter and broader. 



Order CIX. SMILACE^. 



Shrubhy (or rarely lierbrit-eous) phiiits, climbing by petiolar tendrils, often prickly, 

 tlio leaves net-veined betwcten the nerves, with sinuU diieeious greenish usually G- 

 parted flowers ; perianth regidar, deciduous ; stamens at the base of the segments, 

 with introrse basihxed 1-celled anthers ; ovary superior, 3-(.elled (rarely 1- or several- 

 celled), with as many sessile linear spreading stigmas, and 1 or 2 suspended ovtho- 

 tropous ovules in each cell; fruit a berry; seeds with minute embryo, the testa 

 closely adherent to the horny albumen. — Rootstocks often elongated or tuberous ; 

 leaves alternate, petiolate, the petiole usually bearing a pair of opposite tendrils 

 above the dilated clasping base ; tiowers in axillary pedunculate umbels or racemes. 

 Eepresented almost solely by the following genus. 



1. SMILAX, Tourn. Gkekn BitiEU. 



Characters as of the order. Flowers in umbels. Anthers bilocellate. 



A widely distributed genus of 150 species or more, chiefly of the tropical and temperate regions 

 of Asia and America. A <lozen species are found in the Atlantic States. The single representa- 

 tive of the genus in California belongs to the section Eusmilax, liaving solitary ovules, and the 

 perianth-segments of the male flowers recurved. The roots of many species are employed in medi- 

 cine under the name of Sar.saparilla. 



1. S. Californica, (iray in herb. Ghdn-ous ; stem woody, terete or somewhat 

 angled, naked or covcri'd with weak spreading jiricklcs (becumiiig black) : leaves 

 broadly ovale, abruptly acute, somewh;it cordate at base, \\ to 4 inclu-s long, tliin 

 and deciduous, rougliish on the margin : ])eduncles slender, Hat, 2 or ;5 times longer 

 than the petioles, which are about an inch long : flowers few to many (20 or le.s.s) ; 

 segments {\ to G) green, narrowly oblong, 2 lines long : fruit black, 3 lines in diame- 

 ter. — S. rotundifoda (]), Denth. PI. Ilartw. 341. S. rotundifolia, var. Call/ornica, 

 A. DC. :Monog. Phaner. i. 75. 



On the Upper Sacramento, near Cliico (ffarticrg, ami other.s) ; on McCloud's River, in fruit, 

 Lemmon. Near S. hispida of the Atlantic States, but leaves less acuminate and more cordate. 



Order CX. PONTEDERIACEiE. 



Perennial aquatic herbs, with spathaceous perfect flowers, an irregular funnelform 

 or nearly regular and salverforra G-cleft persist(int perianth, G or 3 perigynous more 

 or less unequal or dissimilar stamens with introrse anthers attached near the base, 

 a superior sessile 1 - 3-celled 1-many-ovuled ovary, and a simple style; fruit a 

 many-seeded 3-celled (or 1 -celled with 3 parietal ])lacenta;) membranous 3-valved 

 capsule, or a (by abortion) 1-celled 1-seeded utricle; seed anatropons, with fari- 

 naceous albumen, and straight axile embryo. — Stems from creeping rootstocks, with 

 alternate sheathing or clasping leaves, an(l spicate or axillary and sessile solitary 

 flowers. 



An order of 7 genera and 20 or more species, mostly of the tropical and temperate regions of 

 America, i-are in trojiical Africa and .\sia. In the Atlantic States there area single species of Pon- 

 tcdcria {i\\v. principal genus), and two of Hclcranthcra, besides the following. 



