172 Lily (Liliacece). CN0.25 



Slender vines, oftenest woody, climbing extensively by 

 help of the tendrils of the leaf-stems. The sarsaparilla of 

 commerce is obtained from the roots of various species. 



GUIDE TO THE SPECIES. 



(a) Herbaceous, annual, without prickles. Flowers ill- 

 scented. Leaf-stems one third to one and one half 

 inches or more in length. 



(5) Leaves usually seven- or nine-veined, smooth. (i) 



S. herbacea, L. 

 (fr) Leaves usually seven- or nine-veined, downy beneath 

 (1) S. herbacea, var puberulenta, G. 



(6) Leaves usually five-veined, the middle three often 



close and nearly parallel. (2) S. tamnifolia, Mx. 

 (a) \V00d5r, perennial, more or less prickly. Leaf-stem 

 one quarter to three-quarter inch long. 

 (6) Leaves from rounded and egg-shape to fiddle-shape. 

 Base mostly rounded or heart-shape. 

 (V) Stem of flower-clusters usually about the length 

 of the leaf-stem or shorter, one twelfth to one 

 half inch in length. 

 (d) Berries bright red. (3) S. Walteri, Pursh. 

 (d) Berries blue-black. (4) S. rotundifolia, L. 

 (c) Stem of flower-clusters longer than the leaf-stem, 

 but seldom twice as long (except sometimes in 

 No. 5). Prickles, when present, stout and 

 broad-based (except sometimes in No. 5). 

 (d) Leaves not contracted at the middle. Edges 

 not bristle-toothed. 

 (e) Leaf with a distinct whitish bloom beneath. 



(5) S. glauca, Walt. 

 (<?) Leaf green beneath (without a bloom). (4) 

 S. rotundifolia, L. 

 (d) Leaves usually more or less contracted at the 

 middle. Edges often bristle-toothed. (6) 

 S. bona-nox, L. 

 (c) Stem of flower-cluster two to four times the length 

 of the leaf-stem. Prickles when present slender 

 and needle-shaped (excepting sometimes in 

 No. 5). 



