Sm ilacinea Smilax. 533 



toothed persistent coriaceous 7- to 9~ribbed leaves. Berries 

 red. 



S. Mauritanica, from the same region, has larger unarmed 

 leaves. 



Tamus communis. Black Bryony, is an indigenous climber 

 producing annual stems from a large tuberous rootbtock, 

 cordate-ovate glossy ribbed leaves, and inconspicuous unisexual 

 flowers followed by clusters of oblong scarlet berries. It be- 

 longs to the DioscbrecK, distinguished from the above family 

 by having an inferior several-seeded fruit, etc. 



ORDER XIII.-MELANTHACEJE. 



This group of genera is separated from the Liliacece by its 

 extrorse anthers and the septicidal dehiscence of its capsular 

 fruit. It includes bulbous, tuberous, and fibrous-rooted herbs 

 with narrow or broad foliage and showy or inconspicuous 

 flowers. The genera Colckicum and Bulbocodium closely 

 resemble the Crocuses in appearance. Narthecium ossifra- 

 yum<) Bog Asphodel, an indigenous bog plant, associated with 

 these plants when they are included as a tribe of the Liliacece, 

 has a loculicidally 3-valved capsule. It has short stiff linear- 

 nerved leaves and bright yellow racemose flowers, appearing in 

 Summer. About 30 genera and 100 species are referred to 

 tli is order. 



1. VERATRUM. 



Herbaceous plants with creeping rootstocks, broad con- 

 spicuously-nerved leaves, and branched panicles of numerous 

 polygamous flowers. Perianth of six spreading lobes united at 

 the base into a short tube. Name from vere > truly, and atrum, 

 black, the colour of the roots. 



1. V. album. White Hellebore. A tall branching plant 

 with ovate or elliptical-ribbed and plaited leaves. Flowers 

 small but numerous, greenish white. An effective plant, 

 native of Central and Southern Europe, flowering in August. 



2. V. riigrum. Black Hellebore. A larger and finer plant 

 than the preceding, with purplish flowers. A native of the 

 same region. 



Helonias bullata, syn. H. latifdlia, is a showy bog plant 

 from North America with oblong-spathulate radical leaves 

 from a tuberous rootstock, and small scapose purplish flowers. 



