CHAP. CXV.
M1ILA CE.K.
2509
* 1. C. ericoi'des. The Erica-like Ceratiola.
Identification. Michx. FI. Bor. Amer., 2, p. 222.
Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., 1. t. 13.
Spec. Char., Sfc. Flowers in the axilsof the upper leaves, solitary, excepta small abortive one by the side ofthe principal flower.
Description, fyc. An upright muchbranched shrub, greatly resembling aheath, and varying from 2 ft. to 8 ft.high. Branches subverticillate, erect,and marked with the remains of thepetioles of the fallen leaves. Theupper and younger branches retaintheir leaves, which are slightly tomen-tose. Leaves in whorls of 4, spreading,long, linear, rigid, acerose. Flowersvery small. A native of South Carolina ,on the Edisto River, where it covers aspace 300 or 400 yards in width, andtwo or three miles long, which appearsto have been a sand-bank formed bysome of the ancient freshets of the ' r
river, and on which only a few stunted 2379 2380
oaks (Q. Catesbae'i and Q. nigra) are found intermingled with it. Ac-cording to Pursh, it is also found in the gravelly dry soil of Georgia andFlorida ; and, in great plenty, on the islands at the mouth of St. Mary’s River.It was introduced in 1826.
CHAP. CXV.
OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS BELONGING TO THE ORDERSMILA'CEiE.
Identification. Lind!. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. 359.
Synonymes. Lili&cea, in part, Juss. Gen., 48.; Sarmenteceae, in part, Nees Von Esenbeck Gen. PI .;Smil&cea;, in part, R. Brown Prod., p. 292,. Lindt. Synops p. 270., Bart. Ord. Nat., p. 52.
Derivation. From Smilax , a beautiful youth, fabled to have been changed into this plant (see OvidMet.)-, or, according to others, from smile , a scraper, from the roughness of the stems of most ofthe species.
General Characteristics , fyc. Monocotyledonous. Flowers hei* aphrodite ordioecious. Calyx and corolla confounded, inferior, 6-parted. Stamens 6,inserted into the perianth near the base; seldom hypogynous. Ovary 3-celled; the cells 1-or many-seeded. Style trifid. Stigmas 3. Fruit aroundish berry. Albumen between fleshy and cartilaginous. Embryousually distant from the hilum. ( Lindl. in Nat. St/st. of Sot.) Small climbingshrubs, with woody stems, and reticulated leaves, though they are con-sidered as monocotyledonous plants. This order is nearly allied to iih-aceae, of which it was formerly considered to form a part. The plantscomposing it are found in small quantities in most parts of the world ; butthe only ligneous plants which it contains belong to the genus iShmax.