206 CHAPTERS ON BRITISH BOTANY. \July, 



Asparagus officinalis; stolones €k Tr]<i AaTrapayia^ (" the Aspa- 

 ragus bed ") edules ; " the shoots from the Asparagus bed are eat- 

 able/' Augustus liked Asparagus (Suetonii Vitee; Bill. 93). 



AsPHODELUs. It may be sufficient under this name to state 

 that our Lancashire Asphodel is not the plant intended by Theo- 

 phrastus^ vii. 9, 11^ 13. We have borrowed the name ; but who 

 knows what plant the early Greeks intended by this name ? 



AsPLBNiuM. A. Trichomanes. This common fern, and also 

 Athyrium Filix-fcemina, are believed to be those described or noted 

 by Theophrastus. (Bil. 250, 251; Stack. 76; Theoph. vii. 13, 

 ix. 20.) 



Atriplex, dXifio'i. The name given by Theophrastus to some 

 plant of this family appears in our Flora ; and possibly it may 

 represent the name of a species common to both England and 

 Greece. 



AvELLANA, ripaK\ecoriK7], Hazel (Theo. i. 16, iii. 7, 8). Theo- 

 phrastus describes two species, 17. aypia, Corylus Avellana, and 

 97. rj/mepa, C. Colurna, English, Filberts. See Corylus. 



Avena. Two species of this genus, viz. A. fatua and A. ste- 

 rilis, are believed to be the same as those mentioned by Theo- 

 phrastus under the names yEgilops and Bromus. (Bil. 24; Sp. 

 i. 80; Theoph. viii. 9; Stack. 4, 15.) 



Theophrastus records the mutation of Spelt, a kind of wheat, 

 into the Wild Oat. Virgil also says, that in ill- cultivated fields, 

 "where sleepy Darnel and Wild Oats abound,"* the precious 

 crops perish. 



Billerbeck informs us that in the more ancient times Oats 

 were unknown, and that the Romans were indebted to the Celts 

 and Germans for their knowledge of the use of this grain. 



Betula, o-rj/jbvSa (Theo. iii. 14), B. alba, Birch. Wm. Tur- 

 ner writes thus : — " Byrche is called in Latin betula, or as some 

 wryte, betulla ; in Greke, semyda, etc. ... I have not red of any 

 vertue that it hath in physik ; howbe it it serveth for many good 

 uses, and for none better than for betynge of stubborne boyes, 

 that ether lye or will not learne." (Part i. p. 35.) 



Blitum. Under the name of " Blite," many plants were de- 

 scribed, both in ancient and modern times, most of which are 

 now known by the names of Amaranths, Chenopods, etc. As 

 the genus is now restricted, only one plant has been observed in 



* " Infelix lolium et steriles dominantur avense." 



