314 LILT FAMILY. 



S. amplexif61ius. Stem stout, rough at base, 2° - 3° high ; leaves etronp:- 

 ly clasping, smooth, glaucous beneath ; flower whitish, on a long stalk with 

 abrupt bend above the middle ; anthers slender-pointed ; stigma truncate. 



S. r6seU8. Stem l°-3° high; leaves green, finely cui^te, and with the 

 few branches beset with more short and fine bristly hairs ; flower lose-pitrple, 

 on a less bent stalk ; anthers 2-homed ; stigma 3-cleft. 



16. CONVAIXXBIA, LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY. (Name altered 

 from the Latin Liliuui convallium, of which the English name is a translation.) 

 Fl. late spring. 



C. maj ^is, the only true species, cult, everywhere, from Europe, and wild 

 on the higher Alleghanies ; its small sweetscented white flowers familiar. 



17. SMILAClNA, FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. (Name a diminutive 

 of Smilax, which these plants do not resemble.) Wild in woods or low 

 grounds : fl. late spring. 



§ 1. Perianth of only 4 reflexed spreading divisions: stamens 4 : ovary 2-cdled. 



S. bifblia. In all moist woods N. : 3' - 6' high ; stem bearing 2 (sometimes 

 3) heart-shaped leaves, and a short raceme of small flowers ; berries red. 



§ 2. Perianth of 6 divisions: stamens 6 : ovarg S-celled, rarely 2-celted. 



S. trif61ia. Cold bogs N. ; 3' -6' high, smooth, with mostly 3 oblong 

 leaves tapering to a sheathing base ; raceme loose, few-flowered ; berries red. 



S. stell^ta. Rocky places N. : l°-2° high, smooth, or the 7-12 lance- 

 oblong leaves minutely downy when young; raceme several-flowered; berries 

 blackish. 



S. racemdsa. Moist copses and banks, chiefly N. : 2° high, minutely 

 downy, leafy to the top ; the oblong or lance-oval leaves ciliate, pointed at each 

 end ; flowers small, crowded in a compound raceme; the divisions of periantli 

 narrow ; berries pale red and speckled. 



18. POLYGONATUM, SOLOMON'S SEAL. (Name in Greek means 

 many-jointed. The English name is from the rootstocks, the impression of 

 the seal being the scar left by the death and separation of the stem of a former 

 year: Lessons, p. 44, fig. 99.) Stem recurving or turned to one side. Fl. 

 late spring and early summer. 



P. biflbrum, Smallee S. Wooded banks : l°-3° high; the ovate-oblong 

 or lance-oblong leaves nearly sessiile and glaucous or minutely whitish-downy 

 beneath ; peduncles mostly 2-flowered ; filaments roughened, borne above the 

 middle of the tube. 



P. gigantdum, Lakqer S. Alluvial grounds N. : 3° -8° high, smooth ; 

 leaves ovate, partly clasping ; peduncles 2 - 8-flowered ; filaments smooth and 

 naked, borne on the middle of the tube. 



19. ASPARAGUS. (The ancient Greek name.) Fl. early summer. 



A. offlcin^is. Common Asfabagus. Cult, from Eu. far its esculent 

 spring shoots, spontaneous about gardens : tall, bushy-branched, the leaves 

 thread-shaped. 



20. MYBSIPHYLLUM. (The name in Greek means m^rt/e-Zcatierf.) 

 M. asparagoldes, of Cape Good Hope : a very smooth delicate 



twiner, cult, in conservatories for winter decoration, under the name of 

 Smilax : the bright green so-called leaves 1' or more long, glossy-green both 

 sides, nerved, set edgewise on the branch, but taming so as to present an upper 

 and under face ; the small flowers produced in winter, sweet-scented, with 

 reddish anthers ; berries green. — That the seeming leaves are of the nature 

 of branches is shown in Rusccs, the Butcher's Broom, of Europe (here 

 rarely cultivated), where they are rigid, spiny-tipped, and bear flowers on one 

 face: 



