DI0SC0REACE.E AND SMILACE.E. oil 



parted, Tvii.ii oblong segments, upright-spreading ; the altern- 

 ate ones the broadest. Stamens 3, monodclphous : fila- 

 MENTS united into a long tube : anthers subovate, double. 

 Style filiform, the length of the tube. Capsule oblong, 

 3-sided: seeds numerous, roundish, covered with a puLp. — 

 Showy South American bulb9us plants, with large, very evanescent 

 yellow and red spotted flowers. 



T. Pavonia, L. Tiger Flower. 



Slem simple, !! txuous; leaves sword-shaped, veined; segments flat; petals pandu- 

 r'.f irm. July-^Sept. A superb plant, native of Mexico and Peru. Stem 2 to 2J/£ 

 feet high, erect, round, leafy, somewhat branched. Leaves erect, 8 to 12 indies 

 long, Bmooth. Flowers 5 to 6 inches hrcad, 3 _ cllow, variegated with scarlet, ciim- 

 fcu and purple, very erancsccnt, lasting but a ftw hour3, but a new one appears 

 •daily for several weeks. 



Order 122. DI0300REACEEI.— Yam Family. 



• rig herbs er tmdershrubi, from large tuberous roots or knotted roctstocls, 

 ribbt I and tzvet on petioles and small dioecious Oandrous and r- 



flowers in spikes. Ovary adherent, 3-cclled. Stylks 3, united below or distinct 

 -Fkut usually a membranaceous 3- angled or winged capsule. 



DIOSCOREA, Plumier. Yam. 



In honor of the celebrated Greek naturalist, Dioscc 



Flowers very small, dioecious. Stamens G at the base 

 of the divisions of the 6-parted perianth : filaments sub- 

 ulate. Styles distinct nearly to the base. Capsule 3- 

 celled, triangular, 3-winged. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cell, 

 flat, with a membranaceous wing. — Climbing perennials, with 

 alternate often heart-shaped leaves, and inconspicuous greenish fow' 

 t/'s in axillary branched racemes or spikes. 



D. villosa, L. Wild Yam-root. 



Herbaceous; leaves mostly alternate, sometimes nearly opposite or in fours, 

 more or less beart-sliaped, pointed, 7 to 11 ribbed. — Var. quaterxata, (D. quaterna- 

 ta. Watt.) La? the leaves more acuminate and T-nerved, the lateral nerves 2-partcd. 



Tbi< -ki'ts and old fields, common. July. A slender vine twining over bushes, 

 sometira es 10 or 12 feet lorn?. Flowers minute, greenish-veliow, the sLrile in pen- 

 dulous panjeies ; the fertile in pendulous simple racemes." 



Order 123. S21ILACEJE.- SmUax Family. 



Berbs or shrub?, often climbing, with rilled and conspicuous netted veiny leaves, 

 regular 6-andrcus flowers with the ^parted perianth free from the 3-ceVed ovary.— 

 ?i/>wer3 dioecious or perfect. Ovary 3-celled, 1 or many-seeded. Frut a few to 

 many-see ded berry. 



