ASPAllAGACE^. (ASPAKAGUS FAMILY.) 7'70 



Okder CXI. ASPARAOACEiE, Baker. (Asparagus Family.) 



Ilerls or shruls^ nemr loith hdhs, witli jperfect^ monce- 

 clous, or 2^olygamons floioers^ the 2^^'^"i(/oniimi free from, the 

 ovary, (S-cleft or -jparted, corolla-lilce {rarely ^i-S-jjarted, in 

 which case the outer divisions are calyx-lihe) ; stamens as 

 many as divisions of jperigoniuin, inserted on it or on the 

 recejptacle / anthers %celled, introrse. Ovary Z-celled, ivith 

 1-Qo ovules in each cell, inijflanted on the central angle, ana- 

 iro])ous. Fruit an indehiscent lerry — Styles 1-3. Fruit 3- 

 (or by abortion 1-2-) celled, with one, globular, angled, or tri- 

 (juetroiTS seed in each cell. Embryo small, in a cavity of the 

 albumen. 



* Plants with ordinary leaves. Perigonium 6-toothed. 

 I . POLYGOXATUM. Flowers drooping on slender pedicels, cylindrical, perfect. 

 * * Leaves reduced to scales. Plants furnished with sterile, leaf-like h-anches. 

 t Sterile branches (cladodia) subulate, clustered in axils, rarely solitary. 

 ■1. ASPARAGUS. Flowers small, on short pedicels, axillaiy, perfect, dioecious or 

 polygamous. 

 ■[• I Sterile branches {phyllocladia ox lyhyllodia) fiattened, resembling leaves of Polygonatum. 

 !. PvUSCrs. Flowers growing on tlie midrib of the lower face of the phyliocladiuni. Peri- 



gonium C-parted. 

 4. DAN-'E. Flowers terminal, racemed. Perigonium gamophyllous. 



1. POLYGOIVATUM, Tourn. Solomon's Seal. 



Flowers perfect, Perigonium white, cylindrical, with six, erect, 

 i;reeu teeth. Stamens 0, inserted above the middle of tube, included, 

 the anthers linear, fixed by their back. Ovary sessile, oblong, 3-celled, 

 with 2 ovules in each cell ; style filiform, deciduous ; stigma dot-like. 

 Berry globular, with globular seeds — Caulescent herbs, arising from 

 tiiick, knotted root-stocks. 



P. polyautlicmiiuijM. B. Fig. 359. 



,'>to.4; stem angled, naked to 

 nearly half its height. Leaves 

 alternate, .04 to .08 long, .015 to 

 .025 broad, oblong-lanceolate, 

 ■^liort-petiolcd, acutish, slightly 

 I'oughened. Pedicels glabrous, 

 1-4-flowered, nodding, with 

 Uowers one-third to one-fourth as 

 long as leaves; perigonium .01 



long, constricted above ovary - .^^^^ ,„,i.,,,,,„, ^, Polygonatum 



June -Amanus and Kurd Dagh. poiyanthemum. 



2. ASPARAGUS, L. Asparagus, nahjun. 



Flowers perfect, dicccious or polygamous, Perigonium campan- 

 ulate or hemispherical, G-parted. Stamens (>, free, included, equal, 

 inserted near the base of the divisions, the anthers fixed by their back, 



