532 Litiacce—Philesta. 
authors separated from it, and considered, with the genus 
Lapageria, as forming a distinct family near the Sivilacnec. 
The genus is distinguished by its shrubby not-climbing habit, 
penninerved leaves, the three outer leaves of the perianth very 
much smaller than the inner, and monadelphous stamens. The 
name is from the Greek @iAyjatos, lovely. 
1. Ph. burifélia, The only species known, a dwarf shrub 
with small leaves and large bell-shaped drooping flowers of a 
beautiful bright red. Native of South America from Valdivia 
to the Straits of Magelhaen. Hardy in the vicinity of the 
sea in the south-western counties of Envland. 
Lapageria vdsea, from the same region, is perhaps not quite 
so hardy. This handsome climber has 5-nerved leaves and 
large fleshy campanulate deep rose or white flowers. 
Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, have recently succeeded in raising 
a hybrid between the two foregoing plants, possessing some of 
the characters peculiar to each of the parents. Dr. Masters 
has named this hybrid Philageria Veitehti, and observes that 
it is hardly equal in point of beauty to either of its pro- 
genitors. 
Onprr XIL—SMILACINEA. 
Herbs or shrubs, usually of climbing or trailing habit, and 
often furnished with tendrils and thorns. Leaves simple, 
alternate, distinctly petiolate, net-veined and usually ribbed. 
Flowers small, green or yellowish green, hermaphrodite or uni- 
sexual, generally in axillary clusters or umbels, rarely solitary. 
Perianth inferior, six-partite, segments similar. Stamens 6. 
Fruit superior, baccate, 1- to 3-celled, 1- to 3-seeded. There 
are two or three genera, comprising upwards of 100 species, 
chiefly belonging to the following genus and widely dispersed 
in temperate and tropical regions. 
1, SMILAN, 
Characters of the order. The name is of classic origin, and 
was applied to the South European species. None of them 
are very ornamental, but several species are valued for their 
medicinal properties. The various kinds of Sarsaparilla are 
produced by this genus. 
1. S. dspera.—This is a South European species of trailing 
habit with prickly stems and ovate or lanceolate-cordate spiuy- 
