16 
PARK AND CEMETERY, 
Garden / Plants— Their Geog'raphy-XCIX. 
Liliales The Smllax, Lilium and Tradescantla Alliance. 
This fine group would seem to be the head centre 
of fine flowering monocotyledons. It contains 29 
tribes, 243 genera, and 2,672 species, or thereabouts; 
additions to a limited extent are made as exploration 
proceeds. The tribes vary greatly and contain genera 
which seem to have wandered in from several other 
groups, a mutuality which ought to exist in all, if 
there is to be perfection in a genealogical system. But 
naturally it does not exist. Darwin was ever ready 
to recognize missing links which some of his disciples 
would either ignore, or dig up, to patch their hypothe- 
sis. Liliales, however, touch so many alliances that 
I can’t see why Brongniart, Braun, Engler and the 
From American Florist. 
LAPAGERIA ROSEA AND VAR. ALBA WITH 
FRONDS OF ADIANTUM. 
rest didn t make some effort to get certain endogens 
nearer to their Dialy-Choripetalous mixtures, instead 
of talking after Bromhead about parallelism. The chief 
difference between Liliales and the Amaryllis tribes 
■ — other than aspect — is that they have free ovaries, 
to which the floral leaves are slightly attached, if at 
all, and that several genera have simple pulpy-berried 
fruits. In habit they are very diverse, including sub- 
tropical and tropical, occasionally branching trees, with 
something very like bark-covered stems, temperate and 
sub-tropical shrubs, . hardy and tender wiry almost 
exogenous rooted climbers, and a very varied assort- 
ment of bulbous, rhizomatous, fleshy and fibrous- 
rooted herbs. There are aquatics and bog plants a- 
plenty, and in Malasia even a root parasite or two. 
They are found in all parts of the world, except, per- 
haps, the most inhospitable frigid regions. The most 
dreadful deserts, where men lie in irrigation ditches 
in summer for fear of drying up, have no terrors for 
certain yuccas. Fritillarias are found in Siberia, Clin- 
tonias in Labrador. But the greater numbers are sub- 
tropical and temperate. 
Croomia is a small genus of two species, found in 
Florida and Japan, which the older botanists thought 
exogenous and allied to Epeimedium, Jeffersonia, etc. 
Smilax, “sarsaparilla,” has 200 species, found 
throughout the tropical and temperate parts of Amer- 
ica and Asia and in Europe. They are locally known 
as “green briars,” “cat briars,” and so on, and ought 
to be useful as hedges, climbing on plain wire fences. 
There are a number of northern species. The common 
greenbriar has black berries, and several varieties, 
some climbing to twenty feet high or more. S. lauri- 
folia has black, S. Walteri bright red, S. lanceolata 
dull red berries, while several more tender species have 
their foliage finely blotched with purple or silvery grey. 
Some few are variegated and S. bona-nox var. rubens 
is so called because of its reddish tendrils. They are 
greatly neglected but might be used effectively climb- 
ing through young larches or other deciduous trees. 
Ruscus, “butcher’s broom,” has three species, found 
from Madeira through the Mediterranean regions north 
to the Caucasus. R. aculeatus is found in Britain, 
and with light shade is hardy south of Richmond, Va. 
Asparagus has no species of herbs and climbers, 
chiefly in sub-tropical and temperate regions. Several 
of those grown in greenhouses north are hardy far 
south and in California, where the florists’ “smilax” A. 
medeoloides vars. often becomes a weed in gardens. 
Other climbing South African kinds are A. Africanus, 
A. aphyllus, A. scandens, A. retrofractus and several 
more. There is also a lower growing set, such as A. 
Smithiana, A. capensis, and A. subulatus. Among 
those most hardy in Europe is the Hungarian A. tenui- 
folius, A. scaber, A. verticillatus and A. declinatus. I 
have often thought such as the Hungarian or even the 
common kinds would mix well with Lilium auratum, 
but have had no opportunity to try them. 
Lapageria is a superb monotypic climber from Chili. 
It has magnificent, deep, coral red or white flowers. It 
is said to do well in parts of California, and was re- 
ported as hardy at Biltmore, N. C., some years ago, 
but that was very likely premature. It should have 
the protection of light tree growths where light spring 
frosts occur, for it is early to flower and grow. The 
young growths should also be protected from slugs, 
which are their desperate enemies. 
