sheathing towards the base, muoh used for culinary preparations ;
from Switzerland.
A. schoenoprasum. L. Chives, or Cives. From Britain ;
grows in handsome tufts.
A. proliferum. Schr. Tree Onion. Bears its bulbs on the
stem, and among the flowers, or instead of them ; a native of the
West Indies ; rarely cultivated.
Most of those mentioned, are expectorant, stimulant, and diuretic.
ORDER 249. SMlLACEiE.
Flowers sometimes dioecious ; perianth petal-like, inferior,
6-parted* with 6 stamens inserted near its base ; ovary 3-eelled,
and style usually trifid ; fruit a roundish berry ; leaves sometimes
with net-like veins ; plants sometimes are climbers.
Widely spread over the world ; half in tropical America.
S milax. L. 20. 6. Jacob’s Ladder.
The name is from the Greek for grater, on account of the
rough stem of some ; about 50 species.
Perianth 6-leafed, in both the dioecious flowers ; styles minute*
3, stigmas 3 ; berry 3-celled, superior.
The 3 species of this genus found in this State, are not abundant,
though often occurring.
S. rotundifolia. L. Green Briar. A prickly, troublesome
vine, forming tangled thickets, not without beauty ; about the
trees and shrubs on which it climbs. Distinguished for its roundish,
heart-shaped, 5-nerved leaves, and glossy black berries.
<S. peduncularis. Muhl. Jacob’s Ladder. Unarrrted, and
distinguished by its acuminate, 9-nerved leaves, offensive, greenish
flowers, and bluish berries,
,S, kerbacea. L. But 2 or 3 feet high, with 1 or 2 branches.
iS. sarsaparilla. L. The well known medicinal plant of this
name, indigenous to North America ; demulcent and diuretic, and
used as medicine in many cases.
Gyromia. Nutt. 6. 3.
The 6 divisions of the perianth revolute; stigmas 3, united at
their base ; berry 3-celled.
G. Virginica. Nutt. Indian Cucumber. Not the most distant
resemblance to Cucumber, unless in the slight odor of the
plant; a single species, grows a foot high, with 2 whorls of leaves,
one close to the flower, and the other at some distance below ;
open, dry woods ; very regular in its form ; 'May. The root is
said to be diuretic. Barton. This is Medeola Virginica, L.,
Cucumber Root.
Uvularia. L. 6. 1. Bell Wort.
From the Greek diminutive for a bunch of grapes, from the
cluster of flowers on some species ; chiefly a North American
genus. Segments of corolla or perianth with a nectariferous
cavity at the base ; filaments very short.
Two rather beautiful species grow in this State. On one,
U. sessilifolia, L., the leaves are sessile, and on the other, U. per-
foliata, Mx., the stem appears to run through the leaf; woods ;
May and June.
S tr e p topus . Mx. 6. 1.
Taken from the preceding genus, and named from the Greek,
for turn and foot, from the twisted foot-stalk of the flowers '; all
the species American but one. Anthers longer than the filaments;
berry subglobose ; petiole twisted.
Two species occur in this Commonwealth ; one, S. distortus,
Mx., much resembles the species of the preceding genus ; the
other, $. roseus, Mx., Rose Bell Wort, has a stem often 20
inches high, branching into 2 parts, and of a fine form, leafy and
holding many small, rose-colored flowers; woods and hills;
May.