ASP 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ASP 



135 



unarmed, angular, shrubby ; leaves needle-shaped, rather 

 rigid, perennial, mucronate, equal. This has white crooked 

 shrubby stalks, which rise four or five feet high, but have no 

 spines on them, the leaves come out in clusters like those of 

 the Larch-tree, but are very short, and end in sharp prickles 

 so that they are troublesome to handle. It is a native of 

 Spain, Portugal, and the Levant. 



9. Asparagus Horridus ; Thorny Asparagus. Leafless, 

 shrubby, five-cornered ; prickles four-cornered, compressed, 

 striated. The spines are about the length of a finger. It is 

 a native of Spain. 



10. Asparagus Aphyllus ; Prickly Asparagus. Stem un- 

 armed, angular, shrubby; leaves subulate, striated, unequal, 

 diverging. The flowers are small, and of an herbaceous 

 colour ; the berries are larger than those of the common sort, 

 and are black when ripe. Native of the southern parts of 

 Europe. 



11. Asparagus Capensis ; Cape Asparagus. Spines in 

 fours ; branches aggregate, round ; leaves setaceous ; root 

 tuberous ; stems shrubby, filiform, flexuose ; spines spread- 

 ing, a little recurved, very acute. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



12. Asparagus Sarmentosus : Linear-leaved Asparagus. 

 Leaves solitary, linear-lanceolate ; stem flexuose ; prickles 

 recurved. It sends out many weak climbing branches, which 

 rise about five or six feet high from the root ; the shoots are 

 armed with short crooked spines, which are so closely set on 

 that it is difficult to touch the branches. The roots, which 

 are long, fusiform, whitish, and fleshy, of a sweetish plea- 

 sant flavour, are eaten in Ceylon, (where it grows naturally,) 

 with broth or milk, and the inhabitants appear to be very 

 fond of them. 



13. Asparagus Verticillaris ; Whorl-leaved Asparagus. 

 Leaves verticillate. It was found by the French botanist 

 Tournefort in the Levant, about Derbent, and in other parts 

 of the East. 



Asperugo; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 five-cleft, erect, with unequal toothlets, permanent. Co- 

 rolla: one-petalled, funnel-shaped; tube cylindrical, very 

 short : border semiquinquefid, obtuse, small ; throat closed, 

 with five convex, prominent, converging little scales. Sta- 

 mina : filamenta five, in the throat, very short ; antheraj 

 oblongish, covered. Pistil .- germen four, compressed ; style 

 filiform, short; stigma obtuse. Pericarp: none. Calix: very 

 large, erect, compressed ; lamellas flat-parallel, sinuate. 

 Seeds : four, oblong, compressed, distant, by pairs. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix : of the fruit compressed ; lamellas 

 flat-parallel, sinuated. The species are, 



1. Asperugo Procumbens ; Procumbent Asperugo. Cali- 

 ces of the fruit compressed ; root annual ; corolla scarcely 

 exceeding the calix, deep blue, often white. It is found in 

 roads and among rubbish at Newmarket, Boxley in Sussex, 

 Holy Island, and near Purfleet, flowering in April and May. 

 Horses, goats, sheep, and swine, eat it, but cows are not 

 partial to it. Small Wild Bugloss, or Borrage, Great Goose- 

 grass, are also names under which it has been known. It 

 may be easily propagated by seeds sown in autumn ; or, if 

 they be permitted to scatter, the plants will come up of 

 themselves. 



2. Asperugo ^Egyptiaca ; Egyptian Asperugo. Calices of 

 the fruit swelling ; root annual, columnar, the thickness of 

 a quill, red ; stem half a foot high or more ; flowers void of 

 scent ; petals pale yellow, and the scales of the throat yellow. 

 It flowers from June to August, and is a native of Egypt. 

 It may be raised by seeds, but they must be sown in a mode- 



rate hot-bed. The plants will flower in the open air in sum- 

 mer, but they must be housed in winter. 



Asperula; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth small, 

 four-toothed, superior. Corolla ,- one-petalled, funnel- 

 shaped ; tube cylindric, long ; border four-parted ; divisions 

 oblong, obtuse, reflex. Stamina : filamenta four, at the top 

 of the tube; antherae simple. Pistil: germen twin, round- 

 ish, inferior; style filiform, bifid at top; stigmas headed. 

 Pericarp : two dry globular united berries. Seed : solitary, 

 roundish, large. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : one- 

 petalled, funnel-shaped ; seeds two, globular. All these 

 plants, except the second species, being perennial, may be 

 increased by the roots as well as by seeds. The first sort 

 will prosper under the shade of shrubs in wilderness quarters. 

 The fifth must have the protection of a green-house, and does 

 not continue many years; but it may be increased both by 

 seeds and cuttings. The eighth growing naturally in chalk, 

 and most of the others being natives of rocky places, require 

 a dry open situation. The species are, 



1. Asperula Odorata; Sweet-scented Woodroof. Leaves 

 eight in a whorl, lanceolate; flowers in bunches, peduncled ; 

 root perennial, slender, jointed, yellowish, creeping a little 

 below the surface, and sending out many small fibres. 

 Native of many parts of Europe, in woods, and shady places, 

 flowering in May, and sometimes in April. The scent is 

 pleasant; and when dried, this plant diffuses an odour like that 

 of Vernal Grass, or Anthox Anthrum Odoratum. It is said to 

 give a grateful flavour to wine ; and when kept among clothes, 

 not only to impart an agreeable perfume to them, but to pre- 

 serve them from insects : cows, horses, sheep, and goats, are 

 reported to eat it. Since it is known to contain an acrid 

 principle,with much fixed alkaline salt, it is thought by some 

 that it may be useful in obstructions of the liver and biliary 

 ducts, although modern practitioners generally reject it. A 

 strong decoction of the green herb opens obstructions of the 

 viscera, and is good in the jaundice ; it likewise strengthens 

 the stomach, and is often taken as a cordial. 



2. Asperula Arvensis ; Blue or Field Woodroof. Leaves 

 six in a whorl ; flowers sessile, terminal, aggregate; root an- 

 nual, slender, with a yellow bark ; corollas blue, with streaks 

 of darker blue ; germs smooth. The roots dye a fine red 

 colour. It flowers in July, and is a native of France, Ger- 

 many, and various parts of Italy. 



3. Asperula Taurina; Broad-leaved Woodroof. Leaves 

 four in a whorl, ovate, lanceolate, revolute, bluntish, pubes- 

 cent ; flowers in terminal bunches; roots perennial, red, 

 branching, intertwined. Flowering from April till June, 

 and a native of Switzerland and Italy. 



4. Asperula Crassifolia ; Thick-leaved Woodroof. Leaves 

 four in a whorl, oblong-lateral, revolute, bluntish, pubes- 

 cent; the flowers are few, in terminal branches, pubescent 

 on the outside. Native of Crete, and the Levant ; flower- 

 ing in June. 



5. Asperula Calabrica; Caldbrian Woodroof . Leaves four 

 in a whorl, oblong, lateral, revolute, bluntish, pubescent. 

 This is an undershrub, about a cubit high, prostrate, and 

 extremely fetid in all its parts; which, with its shrubby stalks 

 and leaves in pairs, sufficiently distinguishes this species. It 

 flowers during most of the summer, and some part of the au- 

 tumn ; and is a native of Syria, between Aleppo and Antioch, 

 and also of Calabria and Sicily. 



G. Asperula Tinctoria ; Narrow-leaved Woodroof. Leaves 

 linear, the lower six, the middle four, in a whorl; stem flaccid; 

 flowers generally trifid, white : the whole plant is green and 

 smooth. In Gothland the roots are used instead of Madder 



