BOTANY 15 
and extend several feet horizontally, but do not pene- 
trate the soil deeply. In the course of time the older 
roots become hollow and inactive without becoming 
detached from the rootstock. The young root forma- 
tion always takes place a little above the old roots, 
which circumstance explains why the asparagus plants 
gradually rise above the original level, thus necessi- 
tating the annual hilling up or the covering of the 
crowns with additional soil. 
The asparagus flowers are mostly solitary at the 
FIG. 9 
nodes, of greenish-yellow color, drooping or filiform, 
jointed peduncles ; perianth, six-parted, campanulate, 
as seen in Fig. 8. Anthers, introrse; style, short; 
stigma, three-lobed; berry, red, spherical, three-celled ; 
cells, two-seeded. While the flowers are generally 
dicecious—staminate and pistillate flowers being borne 
on different plants—there appear also hermaphrodite 
flowers, having both pistils and fully developed sta- 
mens in the same flower. Fig. 9 shows a pistillate, 
Fig. 10 a staminate, and Fig. 11 a hermaphrodite or 
bisexual flower. 
