ASAEUM 



THE BULB BOOK 



ASPARAGUS 



lobes of which are produced into tails 

 (Sot. Mag. t. 7126). 



A. europaeum (Asarabacca). This 

 is a British and European plant 

 with a stoutish root-stock, evergreen 

 kidney-shaped leaves 2 to 3 ins. long, 

 and greenish-purple flowers in May. 



A. geophilum. A native of S. 

 China, having red-brown creeping and 

 branching rhizomes about as thick as 

 a lead pencil ; softly hairy, roundish, 

 heart-shaped leaves 3 to 4 ins. long, and 

 purple three-lobed flowers margined 

 with yellow and dotted with white, 

 which appear in November (Sot. Mag. 

 t. 7168). This species should be 

 grown in a cool greenhouse. 



A. japonicum (Heterotropa asa- 

 roides). A smooth Japanese species 

 with knotty rhizomes, oval, heart- 

 shaped spotted leaves, and dark 

 greenish-purple flowers (Sot. Mag. t. 

 4933). 



A. macranthum. A remarkable 

 species from the Island of Formosa, 

 having long-stalked deltoid ovate, 

 acute leaves, 4 to 5 ins. long and 

 broad, and numerous short-stemmed 

 flowers having three wavy, triangular, 

 purple and speckled lobes spreading 

 from a deep purple cup-like centre 

 rimmed with white (Sot. Mag. t. 

 7022). Kequires a warm greenhouse. 



A. maximum. A Chinese plant 

 with creeping rhizomes, heart-shaped 

 leaves about 18 ins. high, 8 ins. broad, 

 dark green, mottled with grey as 

 in Cyclamen. The fleshy three-lobed 

 flowers are borne on short stalks, and 

 are of a maroon-purple colour with 

 a conspicuous white eye-like blotch. 

 (Sot. Mag. t. 7456.) 



A. parviflorum. This Japanese 

 species grows 3 to 4 ins. high, and 

 has heart-shaped white spotted leaves, 

 with deep basal lobes, and green and 

 purple flowers about April (Sot. Mag. 

 t. 5380). 



A. virglnicum. A native of 



Virginia, about 9 ins. high, having 

 bluntly, heart-shaped, leathery leaves 

 mottled with white above. The dark 

 purple-brown flowers appear in April 

 and May. (Sot. Mag. t. 3746.) 



These curious plants being natives 

 of moist and somewhat shady places 

 will flourish in such spots in the 

 garden or rockery if hardy, or may 

 be grown in pots in a cold frame or 

 greenhouse when tender. They are 

 interesting perhaps more from a 

 botanical than a garden standpoint. 

 They flourish in a moist, sandy, and 

 peaty soil, and may be increased by 

 dividing the roots early in autumn 

 or in spring. 



ASCLBPIAS (Greek name of 

 JEsculapius, the god of medicine). 

 Nat. Ord. Asclepiadeae. A genus 

 containing about sixty species of 

 perennial herbs few of which are of 

 garden value. The only one worth 

 noting with tuberous roots is A. 

 tuberosa, known as the "Butterfly 

 Weed," or " Pleurisy Root." It is a 

 handsome N. American plant, 1 to 

 2 ft. high, having purplish hairy 

 stems, and oval or oblong lance- 

 shaped leaves 2 to 3 ins. long, 

 narrowed at each end, and arranged 

 oppositely, alternately, or in whorls 

 of three. The bright orange showy 

 flowers appear from July to Sep- 

 tember, and are borne in dense umbels 

 at the tips of the shoots and in the 

 axils of the leaves 



It flourishes in rich sandy soil, to 

 which peat or leaf-mould should be 

 added, and may be grown in borders 

 or shrubberies, where they may be 

 left for a few years without disturb- 

 ance. Increased by division of the 

 tuberous roots, or may be raised from 

 seeds when they ripen. 



ASPARAGUS (a, intensive; sparasso, 

 to tear ; in reference to the strong 



