Smilax.] olvi. liliace^. (J. D. Hooker.) 307 



many-fld., solitary and bracteate towards the base or two on a long common peduncle 

 special peduncles 2-3 in., very slender j pedicels f in. ; bracteoles small, ovate] male fl! 

 i in. diam., sepals oblong-lanceolate, obtuse; petals very narrow ; staminodes of fem 

 fl. 6; ovary oblong; stigmas very long, free to the base, revolute : ovules solitary 

 (or 1-2 in one cell solitary in the others ?). 



15. S. K.ing'ii, Hooh.f. ; brandies very stout granulate, leaves 5-10 in. 

 orbicular-ovate or elliptic and very large oymbiform petiolar sheaths 

 thickly coriaceous 5-7-costate from the base, petiole 2-3 in. ; umbels 1-3 on 

 a very short common peduncle, partial peduncles 1-3 in., pedicels li-2 in. 

 sepals \ in. long. '' 



Malayan Pbniitsula ; Perak, King's Collector. 



Stem 40 ft. ; branches angular, lower as thick as the little finger with many 

 conical spines i in. long. Leaves very smooth on both surfaces ; nerves obscure, 

 immersed; petiole as thick as a goosequill; sheath cymbiform of lower leaves with 

 sometimes large spines ; oirrhi very stout. Fem. fl. sepals broadly oblong-lanceolate, 

 obtuse ; petals very narrow ; staminodes 3 ; ovary oblong ; style one-third as long, 

 stigma much longer than the style. Seriy 1 in. diam. Male fl. not seen. 



16. S. pallescens, A.DG. Monogr. Smilax, 198; branches terete 

 granulate, leaves 5-10 by 2-3|- in. narrowly oblong tip rounded and 

 broadly caudate thin pale 6-costate from the rounded or subacute base 

 petiole f in. obscurely sheathing articulate at the middle. 



XJppEK Assam ; in the Mishmi hills, Qriffith. 



The solitary specimen of this fine species consists of a branch with leaves and 

 male racemes with a solitary flower. The branch is unarmed, not scabrid like 

 aspericaulis, and hardly warted as described by Be Candolle, but granulate ; the 

 racemes are very slender, 2-5 in. long, white, the umbels 1-3-nate, peduncles 

 i-l in. divaricate, the bracts are all gone. — I have seen no flowers. Griffith describes 

 them as greenish -brown spotted with red, and with white anthers. 



§ Branches smooth, usually aculeate. 



a. Umbels solitary rarely 2-nate ; peduncle bracteate or not below the 

 middle. 



17. S. feroz, Wall. Cat. 5119 ; branches stout aculeate, leaves SJ-Si 

 by 1-2 in. elliptic or ovate- or obovate-oblong acute or muoronatfe rigid 

 3-5-co3tate base cuneate or rounded, petiole |- in. broad coriaceous 

 sheathing tumidly for half its length, sepals and petals oblong sub- 

 equal, stamens 6-9 one-third shorter than the sepals. A.DC. Monogr. Smilax, 

 103. S. China, Maxim. Bee. v. 172 {the Indian plant). S. Thomsoniana, 

 A.I>C. I. c. 104. 



Eastern Himalaya; Nepal, Wallich; Sikkim alt. 5-8000 ft. /. D. H. Bengal, 

 Griffith {Kew distrib. 5440). MnNNiPOEE, Watt. — Distbib. Tonkin. 



A stout shrub ; branches strongly prickly, terete, branohlets unarmed, angled. 

 Leaves epunctate and eliueolate, marginal nerves very slender, nervulcs faint; 

 netiole jointed at the sheath. Umbels from the young shoots only, of which the 

 leaves are membranous subglaucoas beneath ; peduncles rather stout, solitary, 

 rarely 2-nate, i-J in. long or shorter ; bracteoles ovate, acuminate sepals j-|- in. long, 

 ovate-oblong ; petals similar ; staminodes 3 ; ovary oblong, short styles, stout. 

 Berries \ in. diam., 1-2-seeded. — The stamens are certainly sometimes 9 in Siltkim 

 specimens. De Candolle remarks on the close afSnity of this with the "China," 

 8m. China, which he refers to sect. Nemexia, having 2-ovnled cells of the ovary ; 

 he further distinguishes S. f&i'ox by the leaves not cuneate at the base, which, 

 however, they sometimes are. I find no characters whereby to distinguish S. Thorn- 

 soniana as a variety. 



X 2 



