IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
139 
Pammel, L. H. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sciences, 1895, Vol. 8, 
pp. 133—134, 1896; Vol. 9, 1901, pp. 166, 177, 1902. 
Britton, N. L. and Brown, A. The Illustrated Flora, Vol. 1, p. 427, 1896. 
Fitzpatrick, T. J. and M. F. L. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sciences, 
1898, Vol. 6, p. 198, 1899. 
Britton, N. L. Manual, p. 269, 1901. 
4. CONVALLARIACEAE Link. Handb. 1: 184. 1829. 
Lily-of-the- Valley Family. 
Scapose or leafy-stemmed herbs, without bulbs or corms, usually with 
broad, alternate, verticillate or basal, parallelled-veined leaves, and soli- 
tary, racemose, panicled or umbelloid, regular and perfect flowers. Peri- 
anth of 4 — 6 separate segments or else oblong, cylindric, or urn-shaped 
and 6-lobed or 6-toothed. Stamens 6, hypogynous or borne on the peri- 
anth; anthers variously dehiscent. Ovary 2 — 3-celled, superior; stigma 
usually 3-lobed. Fruit a fleshy berry. Seeds few or many. 
Leaves reduced to scales ; leaf-like branchlets filiform. 1. Asparagus. 
Leaves alternate, broad : stems simple or moderately branched. 
Perianth-segments separate. 
Perianth-segments 6. 2. Vagnera. 
Perianth-segments 4. 8. UnifoUum. 
Perianth cylindric or oblong, 6-toothed. 4. Polygonatum. 
Leaves 8, in a whorl below the solitary flower. 5. Trillium. 
1. ASPARAGUS L. Sp. PI. 313. 1753. 
Herbs having in their early stages simple fleshy scaly stems, becom- 
ing later much branched; the branchlets Aliform and usually clustered in 
the axils of the leaves, or else flattened and linear, lanceolate or ovate. 
Flowers small, solitary, unbelled or racemed; the perianth-segm'Cnts 
similar, separate, or somewhat united below, the stamens inserted at their 
bases; fllaments Aliform; anthers ovate or oblong, introrse. Ovary ses- 
sile, 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell; style slender, short; stigmas 3, 
short, recurved. Berry globose. Seeds few, rounded. This genus con- 
tains about one hundred species, natives of the Old World, represented 
in our flora hj the following species: 
1. Asparagus officinalis L. Sp. PI. 313. 1753. . Asparagus. 
Plants from a much branched rootstock; the young stems succulent, 
edible, stout, later becoming branched and 3 — 7 feet high; the branch- 
lets filiform, 3 — 9 lines long, less than one-fourth line thick, mostly 
clustered in the axis of diminutive scales; flowers green, mostly solitary 
at the nodes, dropping, on filiform peduncles which are 4 — 5 lines long 
and jointed near the middle; perianth campanulate, 2 — 3 lines long; the 
segments linear, obtuse; stamens included; berry red, about 4 lines in 
diameter. The type locality is given as: ''Habitat in Europas arenosis.” 
This species has become frequent or even common in waste places, 
borders or along roadways. The flowers usually appear in May and June 
and the berries are ripe in July although flow’'ering specimens are to be 
found in September, the ripened fruit soon following. 
