Smilax. 



SMILACEiE. 



303 



Stem climbing ; the upper part either unarmed, or very sparingly furnished with short 

 slender prickles. Leaves more or less broadly ovate, membranaceous, 11 - 2h inches long, 

 mostly somewhat cordate, acute and mucronate ; the margin (under a lens) finely eroded and 

 somewhat crenulate Peduncle an inch or more in length ; the umbel 4 - 6-flowered. Sterile 

 flowers resembling those of the preceding species. Fertile flowers about 6 in an umbel. 

 Sterile filaments 6, subulate. Stigmas clavate, obtuse. " Berries black, with 1-3 globose 

 reddish seeds." Muhl. 



Oneida county (Dr. Knieskern), and probably elsewhere in the western part of the State. 

 Fl. June. The fertile flowers are described from Michigan specimens. In the manuscript 

 work of Muhlenberg, noticed above, the S. rotundifolia of Willdenow is quoted as a synonym. 



3. Smilax spinulosa, Smith. Spinulose Greenbrier. 



Stem terete, very prickly with slightly recurved and rigid but rather slender prickles ; 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate (on young plants often somewhat panduriform), smooth on both sides, 

 glaucous underneath, 3 - 5-nerved. — J. E. Smith in Muhl. fl. Lancast. ined. p. 788. S. 

 Sarsaparilla, Linn. sp. 1. p. 1030 (in part) ? 



Stem 3-6 feet long, trailing or sometimes climbing, armed with numerous prickles, par- 

 ticularly on the lower part. Leaves 2-3 inches long, somewhat coriaceous, cuspidate, often 

 dilated at the base, and sometimes also contracted in the middle. Flowers and fruit not seen. 



Dry sandy woods and thickets : Long Island. This is by no means a rare plant, as it 

 occurs in many places on Long Island, and I have seen it also in New Jersey, but have not 

 yet detected it in flower or fruit. 

 I 



** Coprosmanthus. Stem herbaceous, not prickly. OluIcs 2 in each cell of the ovary. 



4. Smilax herbacea, Linn. Carrion-Jlower. 



Stem erect or climbing, nearly simple, angular ; leaves ovate, acuminate (or sometimes 

 rather obtuse) ; peduncles very long. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 1030 ; Michx.fl. 2. p. 238 ; Pursh, 

 fl.l.p. 251 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 228 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 703 ; Torr. compend. p. 374 ; Beck, hot. 

 p. 357 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 566. S. peduncularis, Muhl. in Willd. sp. 4. p. 786 ; Pursh, 

 I. c. ; Nutt. I. c. ; Ell. I. c. ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 368 ; Torr. compend. I. c. ; Beck, I. c. ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 173. t. 187./. B. S pulverulenta, Michx. fl. 2. p. 238. S. la- 

 sioneuron, Hook. I. c. t. 187. f. A. 



Perennial. Stem 3-6 feet long, climbing by its tendrils, or leaning on other plants, 

 sparingly branched. Leaves variable in size and form, usually ovate, and from 2-3 (but 

 sometimes 6) inches long, membranaceous, obtuse, cordate or rather acute at the base, often 

 conspicuously acuminated, at other times with an abrupt point, or obtuse and mucronate, 

 5 - 9-nerved, smooth on both sides, or pubescent on the veinlets underneath : petiole 1-1^ 

 inch long. Tendrils often wanting in many of the petioles. Flowers yellowish green, very 

 fetid. Peduncles compressed, either shorter or considerably longer than the leaves, usually 

 longer in the sterile than in the fertile plant. Umbel 30 - 40-flowered. Pedicels about half 



