LILIACE^E. (LILT FAMILY.) 531 



18. POLYGONATUM. Tourn. SOLOMON'S SEAL. 



Perianth cylindrical, 6-lobed at the summit ; the 6 stamens inserted on or 

 above the middle of the tube, included : anthers introrse. Ovary 3-celled, with 

 2-6 ovules in each cell : style slender, deciduous by a joint: stigma obtuse or 

 capitate, obscurely 3-lobed. Berry globular, black or blue ; the cells 1 -2-seeded. 

 Perennial herbs, with simple erect or curving stems, rising from creeping 

 thick and knotted rootstocks, naked below, above bearing nearly sessile or half- 

 clasping nerved leaves, and axillary nodding greenish flowers : pedicels jointed 

 with the flower. (The ancient name, composed of TroXvs, many, and yovv, knee, 

 alluding to the numerous joints of the rootstocks and stems.) Ours are all al- 

 ternate-leaved species, and with the stem terete or scarcely angled when fresh. 



1. P. bifl6rum, Ell. (SMALLER SOLOMON'S SEAL.) Glabrous, except 

 the ovate-oblong or lance-oblong nearly sessile leaves, which are commonly 

 minutely pubescent, at least on the veins (but sometimes smooth), as well as pale 

 or glaucous underneath; stem slender (l-3 high) ; peduncles 1-3- but mostly 

 2-fiowered; filaments papillose-roughened, inserted towards the summit of the 

 cylindrical-oblong perianth. ( Convallaria biflora, Walt. C. pubescens, Willd. 

 Polygonatum pubescens, angustifolium, & multiflorum, Pursh.) Wooded 

 banks : common. Perianth ' long, greenish. 



2. P. gigantdlim, Dietrich. (GREAT S.) Glabrous throughout; stem 

 stout and mostly tall, terete; leaves ovate, partly clasping (5' -8' long), or the 

 upper oblong and nearly sessile, many-nerved ; peduncles several- (2 - 8-) flowered; 

 filaments smooth and naked, or nearly so, inserted on the middle of the tube of the 

 cylindrical-oblong perianth. (Convallaria canaliculata, Willd. Polygonatum 

 canaliculatum, Pursh. P. commutatum, Dietrich.) River-banks, in alluvial 

 soil, 5 - 8 high ; in dry or less fertile soil 2 - 4. June. (The stem not being 

 at all channelled in the living plant, it is better to discard the earlier name of 

 canaliculatum.) Pedicels 4"- 15" long: perianth 9" long. Perhaps passes 

 into the preceding. 



3. P. latifblium, Desf. Upper part of the stem (2 -3 high), the 1 - 5- 

 flowered peduncles, pedicels, and lower surface of the ovate or oblong mostly peti- 

 oled leaves more or less pubescent ; filaments glabrous. (P. hirtum, Pursh. Conval- 

 laria hirta, Poir.) Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg! 



(P. MULTIFLORUM, with hirsute h'laments, I have never seen in this country.) 



19. ASPARAGUS, L. ASPARAGUS. 



Perianth 6-parted, spreading above : the 6 stamens on its base : anthers 

 introrse. Style short : stigma 3-lobed. Berry spherical, 3-celled ; the cells 

 2-seeded. Perennials, with much-branched stems from thick and matted 

 rootstocks, and small greenish-yellow axillary flowers on jointed pedicels. 

 The narrow, commonly thread-like, so-called leaves are really branchlets, act- 

 ing as leaves, clustered in the axil of a little scale which is the true leaf. (The 

 ancient Greek name.) 



1. A. OFFICINALIS, L. (GARDEN ASPARAGUS.) Herbaceous, tall, bushy- 

 branched; leaves thread-like. Sparingly escaped from gardens into waste 

 places on the coast. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



