CHAP. cxvi. zilia^cea;. Rv'scua. 2517 



wise; but it will iiardly eiKliire our cold climute." Tliere are plants at 

 Messrs. Loddiges's. 



tt 3. A. aphy'llus. The leafless, or jir'wklcd Asparagus. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI , 450.; Reich. ,2. 70. ; Mart. Mill, No. 10. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., No. 11. 

 Synonymes. Corriida Altera Clus. Hist., 2. p. 17S. ; A. petrs^a, Prickly Uoclie Asparagus, Park. 



rheat. 

 Engraving. Park. Tlieat., i5i. f. 4. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Stem regular, shrubb}'. Leaves or spines awl-shaped, 

 diverging. (Willd.) A shrub, with many weak irregular shoots, which 

 have no leaves, but, instead of them, are armed with short stiff" spines, in 

 fascicles of 4 or 5 together, and spreading out from each other every way. 

 The flowers are small, and greenish ; and the berries, which are larger than 

 those of the common sort, are black when ripe. A native of the south of 

 Europe. Introduced in 1640. We observed it, in 1819, common in the 

 hedges by the road sides, in various ()arts of Tuscany. 



Varieit/, 



m A. a. 2 creticus fruticosus, ^c, Tourn. Inst., i. 273. — Somewhat more 

 ligneous than the species. 



a^ 4. A. (a.) acutifo'lius L. The acute-leaved Asparagus. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 449. ; Reich., 2. 70. ; Mart. Mill., No. 8. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 2. p. 27.5. 

 Synonymes. A. Corriida Scop. Cam., No. 417., Vill. Daiiph., 2. p. 275. ; A. ii>\. aoiitis Bank. Pin., 



490. ; //.sylvestris Cam. Epit., SfiO., Matth., 349. ; A. petra;'us Ger. Emac., 1110., Ruii Hist., 683. ; 



Corriida 1. Clus. Hist., 2. 177., Bauh. Pin. Hist., 3. 726. 



Spec. Char., S(C. Stem unarmed, angular, shrubby Leaves needle-shaped, rather rigid, perennial, 

 mucronate, equal. {Willd.) This species has crooked shrubby stems, with white bark, which rise 

 4 ft. or 5 ft. high, but have no spines on them ; the leaves come out in clusters, like tliose of the 

 larch : they are very short, and in sharp prickles. Scopoli thinks that this may be the same as 

 Linnseus's /J. aphyllus ; what are above called leaves, being, in fact, only spines, which are con. 

 sidered by botanists as abortive shoots. It is a native of Spain and Portugal, and was cultivated 

 before 1739, by Miller. We have not seen the plant. 



$. 5. A. ho'rridus L. The homd-sinned Asparagus. 



Identification. Lin. Syst., 333. ; Reich., 9. 70., Supp., 203. ; Mart. Mill., No. 9. 

 Synonyme. A. hisp&nica Tourn. Inst., 300. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Stem shrubby, five-cornered. Prickles four-cornered, compressed, striated. The 

 spines of this plant are said to be 2 in. or 3 in. in length, whence the name. It is a twining shrub, 

 and was introduced in 1800. We have not seen the plant. 



Genus II. 



b^ 



J 



/iU'SCUS L. The Butcher's Broom. Lin. Sj/st. Dioe^cia Triandria. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 534. ; Juss., 42. ; Fl. Br., 1073. ; Tourn., t. 1.5. ; Lam., t. 815. ; Gjertn , 



t. 16. 

 Synonymes. Fragon, Fr. ; Mausedorn, Ger. 

 Derivation. It is said to have been anciently called Bruscus, from beuj; box, and kelem, holly 



{Celtic), box holly ; or from bunts, box. Some suppose it to be derived from russus, flesh-coloured ; 



alluding to the colour of the fruit. The word ruscus was, however, applied to any prickly plant 



by the ancient Romans, as ruscus sylvestris, the holly, &c. 



Description, Sfc. Though, in a practical point of view, the species in British 

 gardens are treated as evergreen shrubs, yet, in a strict sense, they are 

 biennial plants, like the raspberry' and the bramble. Popularly, they are 

 evergreen undershrubs, and one a climber. They have stiff" sharp-pointed 

 leaves, on which the flowers and fruit of the plant are produced, except in 

 R. racemosus. Natives of Britain and other parts of Europe, and of Africa. 

 Soil and culture the same as those of 5'milax and Asparagus. Though the berry 

 contains the rudiments of several seeds, they are generally all abortive but 

 one. SphaiVia atrovirens and S. i?usci Fr. are occasionally found upon the 

 different .species of this genus. 



7 z 4 



