10 
Spring Flora of Oklahoma 
II. POLYGONATUM (Tourn.) Mill. 
Glabrous or pubescent herbs, with thick, horizontal, 
jointed, and scarred rootstocks. Simple, arching or erect 
stems, scaly below, leafy above, the leaves ovate or lance¬ 
olate, sessile and alternate. Flowers greenish or pinkish, 
axillary, drooping, peduncled, solitary or 2-10 in an umbel, 
the pedicels joined at the base of the flower. Stamens 6, 
included. Filaments adnate to the perianth for half their 
length or more. 
1. Polygonatiun oomimutatum (R. & S.) Dietr. Smooth Sol¬ 
omon’s Seal. Glabrous throughout, stem stout or slender, l°-8° 
high. Leaves lanceolate, oval or ovate, l%'-6' long, darker green 
above than beneath, acute, acuminate or blunt at the apex, narrowed, 
rounded or somewhat clasping at the base. Peduncles 1-8-flowered, 
glabrous. Perianth 6'-10" long. Berry 4"-6" in diameter. 
In moist woods. Collected by A. H. Van Vleet. May-July. 
FAMILY 6. SMILACEiF. Smilax Family. 
Perennial vines, with woody or herbaceous, often prickly 
stems. Leaves alternate; blades several-nerved and netted- 
veined, usually punctate, petioled. Petiole persistent, com¬ 
monly bearing a pair of elongated appendages. Flowers 
dioecious, in axillary, peduncled umbels. Perianth seg¬ 
ments 6. Sepals and petals 3 each, with spreading tips. 
Fruit a berry. 
I. SMILAX L. 
Rootstocks usually very large and tuberous, stems usu¬ 
ally twining, and climbing by means of the spirally 
coiled appendages of the petiole. Lower leaves reduced 
to scales; upper leaves entire or lobed. Flowers regular. 
Perianth-segments distinct, deciduous. Filaments in¬ 
serted on the bases of the perianth-segments. Pistillate 
flowers usually smaller than the staminate, usually with 
1-6 abortive stamen's. Berry black, red or purple. 
Stem annual, herbaceous, unarmed. 1. S. herbacea. 
