530 Lihace@a—Polyvonatum. 
knee, in allusion to the many joints or nodes. Natives of 
the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. The three 
below enumerated are all found in Britain, and flower from 
May to July. 
1. P. multiflorwum. Solomon’s Seal.—Stem 2 or 3 feet high, 
terete. Leaves alternate, 3 to 5 inches long, with very short 
petioles, oblong, clasping the stem. Peduncles 2- to 5-flowered. 
Perianth about 8 lines long, constricted in the middle, green- 
ish white. Filaments pubescent. Berry bluish-black. A very 
pretty border plant. 
2. P. verticillatum.—Stem 2 or 3 feet high, angular. 
Leaves whorled, sessile, lanceolate. Flowers rather smaller 
than in the preceding, greenish. Perianth constricted in the 
middle. Peduncles 1- to 3-flowered. Berry red. 
3. P. officinale.—Stem about a foot high, angular. Leaves 
alternate, oblong, semi-amplexicaul. Perianth constricted at 
the base; filaments glabrous. Berry dark violet. 
Maianthemum bifolinm, syn. Smilacina bifolia, is a dimi- 
nutive allied plant with a bifoliate stem and small racemose 
flowers. It is a scarce plant in Yorkshire, ete., in England, 
but widely distributed in the north temperate zone. 
29. RUSCUS. 
A peculiar genus of evergreen shrubs belonging to the 
Asparagus group. Flowers imperfectly dicecious. Perianth 
six-parted to the base, persistent. Fruit a berry. Name of 
uncertain origin. There are several species, some of them 
remarkable on account of the reduced leaves and flattened 
branches (cladodes), on whose face or margin the flowers are 
produced. 
1. R. aculedtus. Butcher’s Broom.—aA dwarf much-branched 
shrub with small ovate rigid spinescent cladodes bearing the 
small greenish flowers, which appear in April, and are succeeded 
by bright red berries about the size of a pea. A native of the 
South and West of England, ete. 
2. R. racemosus.—This is the species most frequently seen 
in gardens. It has larger glossy dark green lanceolate cladodes 
and terminal racemes of small flowers. Portugal. 
R. andrégynus is a climbing plant from the Canaries, with 
flowers on the edges of the cladodes. .R. Hypogléssum, a South 
European species, has the flowers on the upper side of the 
