CLASS VL ORDER I. 143 



UvuLARiA SESsiLiFOLiA. L. ScssUe leavcd Bellwort. 



Leaves sessile, lance-oval, glaucous underneath ; 

 capsule pedunculated; ovate. Pe?'S. 



Stem slender, smooth, dividing at top into two branches, one 

 bearing only leaves, the other leaves and a flower. The leaves 

 are alternate, thin, smooth, paler underneath. The flower pale 

 yellow or greenish, on a slender axillary peduncle. Petals ob- 

 long-linear with an obscure tooth on each side at base. Anthers 

 longer than the filaments. Germ oval, triangular, pedicelled. 

 Style longer than stamens, dividing into three stigmas. Capsule 

 ovate, contracted at base. — Woods, Brookline. — May. — Peren- 

 nial. 



156. ASPARAGUS. 



Asparagus officinalis. Common asparagus. 



Stem herbaceous, unarmed, erect, round, much 

 branched. Leaves setaceous, fascicled ; peduncles 

 jointed in the middle. 



This well known plant has become naturalized about culti- 

 vated grounds ; flowering in June and ripening its bright scarlet 

 berries toward the end of summer. 



157. DRACiENA. 

 Drac^na Borealis. Ait. Northern DraccBna. 



Leaves oblanceolate ; scape umbelled ; berries two 

 celled. 



Leaves radical or nearly so, half a foot long, oblanceolate, 

 smooth and shining, ciliate with fine loose hairs. Scape round, 

 supporting a terminal umbel of a few handsome green bell 

 shaped flowers. Petals six, lanceolate, spreading, gibbous at 

 base. Stamens erect, anthers oblong. Style erect. Stigma 

 semilunar, compressed. Germ superior, oval. Fruit an oblong 

 berry, two celled, few seeded, and of a deep amethystine blue. 



This plant has been improperly associated by Desfontaines 

 with his genus Smilacina, from which it differs in its campanu- 

 late corolla, entire semicircular stigrna, and two celled fruit, as 

 well as in habit and color. I have preferred leaving it where it 



