5 3 2 L iliacetc Ph ilesia . 



authors separated from it, arid considered, with the genus 

 Lapageria, as forming a distinct family near the Smilaclnece. 

 The genus is distinguished by its shrubby not-climbing habit, 

 penninerved leaves, the three outer leaves of the perianth very 

 much smaller than the inner, and monadelphous stamens. The 

 name is from the Greek <f>i\ij<rios, lovely. 



1. Ph. buxifolia. The only species known, a dwarf shrub 

 with small leaves and large bell-shaped drooping flowers of a 

 beautiful bright red. Native of South America from Valdivia 

 to the Straits of Magelhaen. Hardy in the vicinity of the 

 sea in the S3 nth-western counties of England. 



Lapageria,' rosea, from the same region, is perhaps not quite 

 so hardy. This handsome climber has 5-nerved leaves and 

 large fleshy campanulate deep rose or white flowers. 



Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, have recently succeeded in raising 

 a hybrid between the two foregoing plants, possessing some of 

 the characters peculiar to each of the parents. Dr. Masters 

 has named this hybrid Philageria Veitchii^ and observes that 

 it is hardly equal in point of beauty to either of its pro- 

 genitors. 



ORDER XII. SMILACINEJE. 



Herbs or shrubs, usually of climbing or trailing habit, and 

 often furnished with tendrils and thorns. Leaves simple, 

 alternate, distinctly petiolate, net-veined and usually ribbed. 

 Flowers small, green or yellowish green, hermaphrodite or uni- 

 sexual, generally in axillary clusters or umbels, rarely solitary. 

 Perianth inferior, six-partite, segments similar. Stamens 6. 

 Fruit superior, baccate, 1- to 3-celled, 1- to 3-seeded. There 

 are two or three genera, comprising upwards of 100 species, 

 chiefly belonging to the following genus and widely dispersed 

 in temperate and tropical regions. 



1. SMILAX. 



Characters of the order. The name is of classic origin, and 

 was applied to the South European species. None of them 

 are very ornamental, but several species are valued for their 

 medicinal properties. The various kinds of Sarsaparilla are 

 produced by this genus. 



1 . 8. dspera. This is a South European species of trailing 

 habit with prickly stems and ovate or lanceolate-cordate spiny- 



