284 LiliacecV. ^Asparagus. 



Stem stout, climbing, terete, armed with strong prickles ; 

 1. variable, 4-8 by 1^-6 in., from oblong to ovate or orbicular- 

 ovate, acuminate, or obtuse and cuspidate, very coriaceous, 

 3-7-veined from above the rounded or subcordate base, 

 margins hardly thickened, petiole i-2 in., jointed above the 

 middle, sheath amplexicaul, biauricled, broad or narrow, cirrhi- 

 ferous or not ; racemes 4-6 in., bearing many alternate ternate 

 or whorled 30-40-fld. peduncled umbels, bracts and bracteoles 

 minute, pedicels \-\ in. ; buds narrowly oblong, obtuse ; 

 perianth-segm. \ in. long, linear, revolute; stam. as long as the 

 segm.; anth. linear-oblong, much shorter than the slender fil. ; 

 fem. perianth-segm. ovate-oblong, obtuse, inner linear from 

 an ovate base, both often breaking transversely above the base; 

 staminodes 3 or 6; ov. oblong, stigmas large, linear, erect, 

 caducous ; berry pisiform, red ; seeds small, biconvex. 



Moist region to 3000 ft.; rather common. Fl. pale green. 

 Also in India and Burma. 



2. ASPARAGUS, L. 



Rootstock stout, creeping ; stem simple or branched, erect, 

 rambling or climbing, terete, grooved, or angled, unarmed or 

 prickly ; 1. reduced to minute scales, sometimes spinescent, 

 bearing in their axils tufts of slender, trigonous, or flattened 

 branchlets (cladodes) ; fl. small or minute, axillary, solitary, 

 fascicled, or racemed, white, marcescent, pedicels jointed ; 

 perianth campanulate or rotate, 6-partite; stam. inserted on 

 the segm., anth. dorsifixed, oblong ; ov. trigonous, 3-celled, 

 cells 2- or more-ovuled, style short, stigmas 3, minute, ovules 

 orthotropous ; berry globose, i -few-seeded ; seeds subglobose, 

 testa thin, black, closely adherent to the horny endosperm, 

 embryo slender, cylindric, straight or curved. — Sp. about 100; 

 \y in F/. B. Ind. 



The available materials in Herb. Peraden. and Kew are insufficient 

 to enable me to draw up satisfactory descriptions of the Ceylon species 

 of Asparagus. I am especially in doubt as to the value of the characters 

 afforded by the position of the joints on the pedicel of the fl., the size of 

 the perianth, and breadth of its segments. The C. V. numbers, Sp. 1, 2, 

 and 4, are mixed in Peradeniya and other herbs. — J. D. H. 



Cladodes trigonous or triquetrous. 



Fl. ^..-l in. diam I. A. RACEMOSUS. 



Fl. I'in diam 2. A. ZEVLAN'ICUS. 



Cladodes flattened. 



Clad. 4-6 in. long 3. A. FALCATUS. 



Claci. i-i^ in. long . . . . . 4. A. GONOCLADOS. 



