Dec., 1900] 
Kellerman — Saw Brier. 
25 
luxuriance. One can readily see that it is not carelessness on the 
part of the farmer that suffers half or still larger portions of his 
fields to be covered with this pestiferous vine. No other weed is 
seen in the area and therefore he has been diligent and careful in 
his tillage. The meadows even if twice or thrice mowed in a season 
will yet contain year to year the same quantity of Saw Brier. The 
stems spring up quickly, and grow “a foot in a night” the people 
say; surely the Saw Brier is the freshest plant in the field. In a 
case specially noticed a garden spot had been put in cultivation in 
1873, and has been continually and thoroughly cultivated every year 
since, yet the Saw Brier is there to-day. 
The Underground Parts.— This tenacity of life and luxur- 
iance of growth can be understood when the underground parts are 
examined. There are numerous irregular and often large tubers or 
enlargements which serve as the capacious storehouse of nourish- 
ment. They are often of fantastic shape. Various forms are shown 
in figure 1, plate 4. These occur at irregular intervals on the long 
and tortuous subterranean stems. It is said that they may be found 
several feet below the surface, though the eight specimens shown on 
the plate were found at a depth of six to twelve inches. If they all 
could be removed from the soil the weed would of course be practi- 
cally annihilated. But when found at a depth of several feet — as 
seen sometimes in making excavations for foundations, walls, etc. — 
it is evident that the farmer will have to make extraordinary and 
long-continued efforts to destroy this pest. The less courageous may 
well be appalled in contemplating the herculean task. Fortunately 
swine are fond of the nutritious tubers, and voraciously devour them 
when they are given the freedom of the field and allowed to indulge 
in their natural propensities. Heavy coating of manure and winter 
plowing are also indicated. 
Variations in the Leaves. — This form is easily recognized 
among the several species of Smilax indigenous to Ohio, though the 
leaves vary in size and shape to a remarkable degree. A large num- 
ber of the common forms are shown in figure plate 4. They are 
sometimes very broadly cordate-oval, wider than long; often ovate- 
cordate, oval or ovate, lance-oval, oblong to oblong-ovate, broadly 
to narrowly lanceolate and even linear; they are mostly cuspidate 
at the apex, in some cases tapering to acute or sub-acuminate. The 
base is mostly cordate and subcordate, but occasionally tapering* 
It is seldom that forms approaching halberd-shape occur in our 
region. An inspection of plate 4 will illustrate these several forms. 
The twig with fruit marked 6, bears a very common form of the leaf 
as does also the one marked 1. The broad-leaf form is not uncom- 
mon, but the very broad-leaf as seen in specimens marked 3 and 5 is 
of much less frequent occurrence. The very naVrow leaves are as a 
rule borne on short stems — such as have developed in fields and 
