LILY FAMILY. 437 



1. SMILAX, GREEN BRIER, CAT BRIER, or CHINA BRIER. 



(Ancient Greek name.) In thickets and low grounds ; flowers small, 

 greenish, in clusters on axillary peduncles, in summer, or several of 

 the Southern prickly ones in spring. 



* Stems herbaceous, never prickly, smooth; leaves thin, mucronate- 

 tipped; ovules and seeds usually a pair in each cell; berries blue-black, 

 with a bloom; plant, or parts of it, sometimes pubescent. 



S. herbacea, Linn. CARRION FLOWER (the scent of the blossoms jus- 

 tifies the name). Erect and recurving, often without tendrils, or low- 

 climbing, very variable in size, generally smooth ; leaves ovate-oblong or 

 roundish and mostly heart-shaped, ,7-9-nerved ; peduncles sometimes 

 short, generally 3'-4' or even 6'-8' long, even much surpassing the leaves, 

 20-40-flowered. Moist places. Common. 



S. tamnif6lia, Michx. Pine barrens, N. J., S.; differs in its heart- 

 shaped and some halberd-shaped only 5-nerved leaves ; peduncles rather 

 longer than the petioles, and berry fewer-seeded. 



S. ecirrhata, Watson. Erect, 3 or less high, the upper petioles ten- 

 dril-bearing or commonly no tendrils, glabrous ; lower leaves bract-like, 

 the others thin and 5-7 -nerved, broadly ovate-elliptical to roundish, acute, 

 mostly cordate at the base, sometimes verticillate, sparsely pubescent 

 beneath; umbels 10-20-flowered on peduncles about the length of the 

 petioles ; berry 3-seeded. Mich, to Minn, and Mo., and S. Car. 



* * Stems woody, often prickly ; ovules and seeds only one in each cell; 



plant glabrous throughout (except the third}. 



- Leaves often glossy, 5-9-ribbed; stigmas and cells of ovary 3 (except in 



S.pumila). 



*- Berries red; peduncles rather short; leaves 5-ribbed; prickles few. 



S. lanceolata, Linn. Climbs high ; leaves evergreen, lance-ovate or 

 lanceolate, acute at both ends ; roots took tuberous ; fruit ripening the 

 second year. Va., S. and W. 



S. Wdlteri, Pursh. Pine ban-ens, N. J., S.; 6 high; leaves decid- 

 uous, ovate or lance-oval, roundish or slightly heart-shaped ; peduncles 

 flat ; rootstock creeping. 



S. pfcmila, Walt. Rising only l-3 high, not prickly, soft-downy, 

 with ovate or oblong and heart-shaped, 5-ribbed, evergreen leaves, when 

 old smooth above ; peduncles twice as long as petioles, densely-flowered ; 

 berries ripening the second year. Dry soil, S. Car. to Fla. 



** - Berries black, often with a bloom ; leaves mostly roundish or some- 

 what heart-shaped at base; peduncles almost always flat. 



= Peduncle not longer than the petiole. 



S. rotundif61ia, Linn. COMMON GREEN BRIER. Common in thickets; 

 yellowish-green, often high-climbing ; branchlets more or less square, 

 armed with scattered prickles ; leaves ovate or round-ovate, thickish, 

 green both sides, 2 '-3' long ; peduncles few-flowered. 



Var. quadrangularis. Gray, more common W., has 4-angled branchlets. 



= = Peduncle longer than the petiole, but not twice as long. 



S. glafcca, Walt. Mostly S. of N. Y., but less prickly than the preced- 

 ing, the ovate leaves glaucous beneath, and seldom at all heart-shaped, 

 smooth-edged, and peduncles longer than petiole ; branches terete ; 

 branchlets obscurely 4-angled. 



S. bona-n6x, Linn. Differs from preceding, in the leaves varying 

 from round- heart-shaped to fiddle-shaped and halberd-shaped, green both 



