1620 CXXXV. LILIACEiE: [Smilax. 



1. S. glycyphylla (leaves street), Sm. in White, Toy. 230;- Benth. Fl. Auitr. 

 vii. 7. Glabrous and quite unarmed. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 li- to Sin. long or rarely more, acute or acuniinate, narrowed or rounded at the 

 base or rarely almost cordate, 3-nerved, rigid, often very glaucous or white 

 underneath, but sometimes equally green on both sides ; the petioles twisted,- 

 short but slender, bearing slender tendrils, but not at all or scarely winged below 

 them. Peduncles axillary and simple, or a few of the upper one in a terminal 

 panicle. Pedicels rarely 3 lines long. Perianth nearly globular in the bud, the 

 outer segments broadly ovate, scarcely above 1 line long. Anthers almost 

 sessile, very much shorter than the perianth;. Female flower with- puier segments 

 twice as broad as the inner. Berry the size of that of <S. Australis. — E. Br. 

 Prod. 293 ; Endl. Iconogr. t. 39 ; F. v. M. Fragm. vii. 77. 



Hab.: Not uncommon in both North and South localities. 



2. S. australis (Australian), B. Br. Prod. 293 ; Benth. Fl. Aicsti: vii. 7. A 

 glabrous climber, ascending sometimes to a considerable height, the stems and 

 branches usually more or less armed with scattered prickles, of which, however, 

 some specimens show none at all, or here and there only a very minute one. 

 Leaves from ovate-lanceolate or oblong to nearly orbicular, 2 to 4in. long, or 

 rarely much larger ; usually 5-nerved, but the outer nerve on each side often 

 short or irregular, and sometimes scarcely distinguishable from the reticulate 

 veins, the petioles short and twisted, narrowly or scarcely winged below the 

 tendrils. Umbels many-flowered, on axillary peduncles usually simple and -J to 

 fin. long, but sometimes longer slightly branched and bearing 2 or 3 umbels. 

 Pedicels filiform, 2 to 4 lines long. Perianth oblong when in bud, the segments 

 narrow, 1 J to nearly 2in. long. Filaments in the male flowers rather longer than 

 the anthers, which are oblong and at length recurved ; in the female flowers the 

 filaments are usually present, but without anthers. Ovary entirely deficient in 

 the males, sessile with 1 ovule in each cell in the females. Berry black, globular, 

 about 4 lines diameter, with 1 globular seed or 2 flattened on their inner faces. 

 Embryo often at least half as long as the albumen. — F. v. M. Fragta. vii 78 , 

 8. latifoUa and S. elliptica, R. Br. Prod. 293 ; 8. spinescens, Miq. in Linnsea, 

 xviii. 83. 



Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaiia, E. Brown; Brisbane River, Moreton Bay, A. 

 Cunningham. F. v. Mueller and others ; Eockingham Bay, Dallachy ; Cape York, M'Gillivray. 



There are doubtless several forms or species among the specimens generally regarded as S. 

 australis, B, Br., but these cannot be described . until they are brought under cultivation and 

 the plants studied at all stages of their development. 



2. RHIPOGONUM, Forst. 

 (Said to be in allusion to its flexible shoots.) 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth deciduous, of 6 distinct spreading segments, 

 'all equal or the outer ones shorter and often, but not always, surrounded by 2, 8, 

 tor even 4 small bracts. Stamens 6, hypogynous ; filaments short, somewhat 

 flattened ; anthers sagittate, erect, nearly as long as the perianth. Ovary sessile, 

 8-celled, tapering at the top into a very short style, divided into 3 thick recurved 

 stigmatic lobes ; ovules solitary in each cell, pendulous, orthotropous or nearly 

 so. Fruit a globular berry, usually ripening 1 globular seed, or sometimes 2 or 8 

 seeds variously flattened, with a large hilum, without any strophiole. Testa thin, 

 light brown, closely adnate to the hard albumen. Embryo small, at a distance 

 from the hilum. — Tall branching climbers. Leaves often mostly opposite or 

 nearly so, but sometimes all alternate, 3 or 5-nerved, with transverse reticulate 

 veins, the petioles without wings or tendrils. Flowers sessile or shortly 

 pedicellate, in racemes either simple and axillary or the upper ones forming a 

 terminal leafless panicle. 



The Australian species are all enc 



