NATUKAL ORDERS. 
2P1 
distinct. Fruit a 3-winged capsule, compressed. Seeds coa 
pressed ; embryo small ; albumen cartilaginous. 
a. Properties : acrid. Yams, the tubers of the various species of Dioscorea, ar* 
an important article of food in warm countries. 
Genus. — Dioscorea. 
549. Smilace^, tlie Smilax Tribe. — Herbs or und^rshrubs^ 
often climbing. Lemes reticulate-veined. Flowers perfect or 
dioecious. Perianth 6-parted, free. Stamens 6, inserted into 
the base of the perianth. Ovary 3-celled ; cells 1 or many 
seeded ; style usually trifid ; stigmas 3. Fruit a berry, few or 
many seeded ; embryo small ; albumen cartilaginous. 
«. Properties: mucilaginous, demulcent. 
Genus. — Smilax. 
550. Tkilliace^, tJie Trillium Tribe. — Herbs with simple 
stems. Leaves verticillate. Flowers large, terminal, solitary. 
Sepals 3, herbaceous. Petals 3, colored or herbaceous ; some- 
times a fourth is added to their parts. Stamens 6, 8, or 10 ; 
filaments subulate ; anthers linear, with a prolonged connec- 
tive. Ova/ry free, 3-5-celled, sin/les as many, distinct. Fruit 
succulent. Seeds indefinite ; embryo minute in fleshy albumen. 
a. Properties : acrid, narcotic. 
Genera. — Trillium, Medeola. 
551. Ltliace^, the Lily Tribe. — Herbs^ shrubs., or tn^ees., with 
bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, or fibrous roots. Stems simple, without 
branches. L^eaves usually narrow with parallel veins, sheath 
ing or clasping at the base. Flowers regular, perfect. Pei^i- 
anth colored, mostly of 6 parts, in 2 rows. Stamens 6, usually 
alternate with the segments of the perianth, into which they 
are inserted; anthers introrse. Ovary free, 3-celled. Fruii 
succulent, or dry and capsular. Seeds 
numerous, packed one above the other 
in 1 or 2 rows ; embryo in the axis of 
fleshy albumen. (See Plate II., Fig. 1, 
and Plate I., Fig. 3.) 
a. Properties : acrid and sometimes bitter. The bulbs 
abound in starchy or mucilaginous matter. Some are 
edible when cooked. c 
Genera. — 1. Tulipe^ — Erythronium, Tulipa, Calo- 
chontus, Fritillaria, Lilium. 2. Hemerocalle^e — Heme- 
rocallis. 3. Aloine^ — Aloe, Yucca. 4. Scille^ — Alli- 
um, Scilla, Nolina, Brodisea, Ornithogalum, Hyacinthus. 
5. Antherice — Phalangium, Asphodelus, Lophiola. 
6. AsPARAGE/E — Asparagus, Dracaena, Convallaria, 
Fig. 213, a, Erythronium americanum : b, a sepa- 
rate petal ; c, an internal and external segment of the 
perianth with a stamen and pistil. 
552. PoNTEDERiACEiE, the PontedeHa Tribe. — Aquatic oi 
