350 



WEEP/S AXD USEFUL PLAXTS. 



3-celled, 3-valved. Seeds several, linear-clavate, stipitate, — tlis stipe 

 vested with pappus-like hairs ; embryo straight. 



L T. usneoi'des, L. Stem filiform, flexuose, branching, pendulous ; 

 leaves subulate-filiform ; peduncles 1-flowered, short. 



USXEA-LIKE TiLLANDSIA. Loug MoSS. 



Perennial^ parasitic, taking root in the fissures of tlie bark of trees. Stem 3-6 feet o^ 

 more in lengtb, branclied, pendulous in long tangled bunches from the Lnlbs of old trees, 

 very slender, terete, covered and somewhat roughened (as well as the leaves) with minute 

 whitish membranaceous scales which are dotted In the centre, — the centre of the stem 

 and leaves consisting of a black horny elastic thread. Leaves sub terete, slender, acute. 

 Flowers yellowish-green, PursTi. (purple, Loudon^ Ency.), solitary, axillar}^, sessile, with 

 3 - 4 small leaves (or bracts) at base. Calyz and corolla deeply parted, — the segments 

 equal in length, lanceolate, membranaceous. Ovary oblong. Capsule nearly cylindrical, 

 2 -3-celled. Seeds several in each cell, oblong, acute at each end, comose. 



Grows on the forest trees, in the low-land districts of the South. J^L June - Sept. Fr. 



Obs. This singular parasite extends as far north as the Dismal Swamp, 

 in Virginia ; but I have not had the pleasure of seeing it in its native 

 forests. Mr. Elliott (from whose sketch I have chiefly derived the 

 above details) says, " black cattle eat this plant in winter with avidity, 

 and sometimes trees are felled, during a series of severe frosts, to place 

 the moss within their reach. The moss, when dried, is beaten until the 

 bark falls off, and the cartilaginous hair-like flexible stem used for stuff- 

 ing mattresses, chairs, &c." The uses, here mentioned, seem to entitle 

 the plant to a place in the present work. 



Order LXXYI. SMILA'CEJE. (Smilax Family.) 



Herbs or climbing shrubby plants with ribbed and netted-veined leaves and regular dioe- 

 cious or perfect powers. Periaui/i. 6 - 10 parted ; staj/ie^is as mauj^ as the perianth-lobes. 

 Ovary free, 3-5-celled ; styles or sessile stigmas many and distinct. Fruit a few -many- 

 seeded berry ; evibryo minute, in a hard albumen. 



1. SMI'LAX, Tournef. Greex-brier. 



[The ancient Greek name, meaning obscure.] 



Flowers dioecious, in axillary pedunculate simple umbels. Calyx some- 

 what corolla-like, campanulate, deeply 6-parted, — or rather of 6 petaloid 

 sepals in two series, the outer ones broader. Staminate Fl. Stamens 

 6 ; anthers linear, adnate to the filaments. Pistillate Fl. Ovary 3- 

 celled ; ovules solitary ; stigmas 3, subsessile. Berry 1 - 3-celled, 1-3- 

 seeded. Shrubs or rarely perennial herbs, often evergreen and prickly, 

 climbing by tendrils on the petioles ; flowers greenish yellow. 



1. S. rotimdifo'lia, L. Stem shrubby, prickly, more or less 4-angled 

 or sub-terete ; leaves orbicular-ovate, acuminate, subcordate at base ; 

 common peduncles scarcely longer than the petioles. 

 Round-leaved Smilax. Green-brier. Rough Bind-weed. 



Plant glabrous, yellowish-green. Stem 20-30 (sometimes 50) feet long, slender, flexu- 

 ose, som.ewhat branched, armed with straight rigid prickles, and chmbing by teudrili 



