70 SMILACACEAE. 



1.5 cm. long, linear or linear-spatulate, recurved, somewhat shorter than the 

 tube. 



Waste grounds, spontaneous after cultivation, New Providence : Florida ; Porto 

 Rico ; Cuba ; St. Thomas ; St. Croix ; Jamaica. Native of tropical Africa. AFRICAN 

 BOWSTRING-HEMP. 



3. ALETRIS L. Sp. PI. 319. 1753. 



Scapose perennial bitter fibrous-rooted herbs, with basal lanceolate leaves, 

 and small, white or yellow, bracted perfect flowers in a terminal spike-like 

 raceme. Perianth oblong or campanulate, roughened without, 6-lobed, its lower 

 part adnate to the ovary. Stamens 6, inserted on the perianth at the bases of 

 the lobes, included; anthers introrse. Ovary 3-celled; ovules numerous, anat- 

 ropous; style 3-cleft above; stigmas minutely 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, enclosed 

 by the persistent perianth, 3-celled, many-seeded, loculicidal. Seeds oblong, 

 ribbed. Embryo small. Endosperm fleshy. [Greek, signifying to grind corn, 

 apparently in allusion to the rough, mealy flowers.] About 8 species, natives 

 of eastern N. Am. and Asia. Type species: Aletris farinosa L. 



1. Aletris "bracteata Northrop, Mem. Torr. Club 12: 27. 1902. 



Basal leaves tufted, grayish green, spreading, narrowly lanceolate, 10 cm. 

 long or less, 6-10 mm. wide, acuminate at the apex, narrowed at the base, 

 those of the scape few, distant and very small. Scape about 6 dm. high, 

 erect; raceme erect, many-flowered; pedicels about 1 mm. long; bracts subu- 

 late, 4-6 mm. long; perianth w r hite, 6-8 mm. long, tubular-oblong, about 3 mm. 

 thick, its oblong-lanceolate lobes about one-fourth as long as the tube; anthers 

 longer than the filaments; fruit oval, about 5 mm. long. 



Wet grounds in savannas and pine-barrens, Abaco and Andros : Florida. 

 SOUTHERN COLIC-ROOT. 



Family 2. SMILACACEAE Vent. 

 SMILAX FAMILY. 



Mostly vines with wood}' or herbaceous, often prickly stems. Leaves 

 alternate, netted-veined, several-nerved, petioled. Petiole sheathing, bear- 

 ing a pair of slender tendril-like appendages, persistent, the blade falling 

 away. Flowers small, mostly green, dioecious, in axillary umbels. Peri- 

 anth-segments 6. Stamens mostly 6, distinct; filaments ligulate; anthers 

 basifixed, 2-celled, introrse. Ovary 3-celled, the cavities opposite the inner 

 perianth-segments; ovules 1 or 2 in each cavity, orthotropous ; style very 

 short or none; stigmas 1-3. Fruit a globose berry containing 1-6 brownish 

 seeds. Endosperm horny, copious; embryo small, oblong, remote from the 

 hilum. Genera 3, only the following in North America ; species about 230, 

 in warm and temperate regions. 



1. SMILAX L. Sp. PI. 1028. 1753. 



Eootstocks usually large and tuberous, stems usually twining, and climb- 

 ing by means of the coiling appendages of .the petiole. Lower leaves reduced 

 to scales. Flowers regular. Perianth-segments distinct, deciduous. Pedicels 

 borne on a globose or conic receptacle, inserted in small pits, generally among 



