126 
Monocotyledons with Petaloid Flowers — Liliacece. 
of which one species, the Snake’s Head (F. Meleagris), is indigenous in the South of England : Tuberose ( Folianfh.es 
tuberosa) of Mexico, cultivated in the South of France for the sake of its delicious perfume ; various garden 
varieties of Tulip, derived from European and West Asiatic species of the genus Tulipa, especially from T. suaveolens, 
the parent form of the “Due van Thol” Tulips, T. Gesneriana and T. turcica ; one species of Tulip (T. sylvestris), 
with pale yellow flowers, is indigenous in Britain ; Hyacinths, varying with single and double flowers, white, pale 
yellow, rose, and purple, to nearly black, derived from Hyacinthus orientalis of the Levant ; the Cape Agapanthus 
with blue umbellate flowers, and Kniphofia with dense sceptre-like scarlet racemes ; Adam’s Needle and other North 
American species of Yucca; Star of Bethlehem and other species of Ornithogalum, and many others. 
Nahiral Order 
SMILACET 1 . Tab. 97. 
Diagnosis. — A small exotic Natural Order of shrubby or herbaceous 
usually climbing plants of Tropical and warmer Temperate regions, yery 
nearly allied to Liliaceae, differing in their net-veined leaves and dioecious 
flowers. 
USES, &c. — This Order derives its economic importance from the medicinal properties of the rhizome of several 
species of Smilax ( S. officinalis of Tropical America and others), imported as Sarsaparilla. 
Black Bryony ( Tamus communis ) is the solitary British representative of another small Order ( D IOSCORE ACEyE) 
differing from Smilacese in the inferior ovary and usually dry fruit. The fruit of Black Bryony, however, differs 
from that of the typical and principal genus of the Order, Dioscorea, in being baccate. Yams, which are amongst 
the most important esculents of the Tropics, are the farinaceous tubers, often of large size, of various species of 
Dioscorea. 
