412 



ASPHODELINE 



ASPHODELUS 



ASPHODELINE (nanio moilifiod from Asphodehis). 

 Liliace.r. Hardy herbarpoiis plants, distinguished from 

 Asphtxieliis by the erect and leafy stems. 



Asphodelines ha\e long racemes of yellow or white 

 fls. in June and July. .\11 the older species were de- 

 scribed under .\sphodelus. In 1830, Reichenbach made 

 the new genus .\sphodeline for .1. lutea and others. 

 The only species advertised in Amer. is .1. lutea, but 

 all those described below are likely to be in cult. 

 Monogr. by J. G. Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. 15:273- 

 27cS (1877). There are some 145 species in the Medit. 

 region and the Caucasus. 



The culture of Asphodeline hdea is simple. Any soil 

 will suit. Partial shade is allow.able, but, flowers are 

 often better in the sun. Propagated readily by divi- 

 sion, in spring or the fall. 



A. Sis. leafy up to the raceme. 



B. Fls. yellow. 



Idtea, Reiehb. (Asphddelus luleus, Linn.). True 

 Asphodel of the ancients, or King's Spear. Height 

 2-4 ft.: roots thick, flesh}', stoloniferous: Ivs. 3- 

 12 in. long; margins rough: racemes 6-18 in. long, 

 3 in. wide: bracts large, membranaceous, persistent. 

 Italv, Muritania and Algeria to Tauria and Ara- 

 bia. B..M. 773. L.B.C. 12: 1102 as .4. tauricus.— 

 The best species. A double-fld. var. flore-pleno has 

 been advertised. 



BB. Fls. white. 



tattrica, Kunth. Height 1-2 ft.: roots slender: Ivs. 

 3-9 in. long; margins membranaceous: racemes 6-12 in. 

 long, l'2-2 in. wide: bracts 9-12 lines long, 13'2-2 in. 

 wide. Caucasus, Tauria, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece. 

 G.C. III. 21 : 175. 



AA. Sts. leafy only a third or half the way to the raceme. 



B. Fls. white: raceme dense. 



globifera, J. Gay. Height 2-3 ft. : Ivs. numerous, sub- 

 ulate 5-6 in. long, 1-1 ' 2 lines broad: racemes dense-fid.: 

 caps, globose. Cappadocia. 



BB. Fls. yellow: raceme lax. 



c. Bracts large, 6-12 lines long, long-cuspidate. 



tenilior, Ledeb. Height 1 ft.: smaller than A. lutea, 

 with finer Ivs. and smaller, fewer and paler fls. Cau- 

 casus, Armenia, N. Persia. B.M. 2626. — Especially dis- 

 tinguished by the stalk being naked at the upper part, 

 below the raceme of fls., and the bracts as short as or 

 shorter than the peduncle. 



cc. Brads small, ly^rS lines long, short-cwspidate. 



libilmica, Reiehb. (A. cretica. Vis., not Boiss.). 

 Height 1-2 ft.: Ivs. .3-4 in. long: racemes weak, 6-9 in. 

 long, when expanded 2J^-3 in. wide; stamens unequal. 

 Greece, Crete, Dalmatia, Austria, Italy, not Asia 

 Minor. L.B.C. 10:915 (as A. cretica). 



brevicaMis, J. Gay (.4. cretica, Boiss., not Vis.). 

 St. often fiexuose, that of all the others here described 

 being erect and strict. Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, 

 Egj-pt. 



AAA. SU leafy only at the haxe: fk. white: raceme dense. 



B. Racemes uswilly simple. 



c. Height 8 ft.: sis. having If. -scales. 



imperiMis, Siehe. Tallest species of the genus: fls. 

 large, reddish white: Ivs. numerous, fonning a large 

 rosette, and also clothing part of the st. Cappadocia. 

 G.C. III. 22::i97. 



cc. Height 1\^S fl.: sts. not having If. -scales. 

 damascSna, Baker. Height V/t-2 ft.: bracts mem- 

 branaceoas, lanceolate, the lowest 9-12 lines long: 

 racemes simple, rarely branched. Mt. Lebanon. 



Balansae, J. Gay. Height 2 ft.: bracts scarious, 6-9 

 lines long. Cilicia. Gt. 46, p. 521. G.C. III. 23:111. 



BB. Racemes mm:h panicled. 

 isthmocarpa, J. Gay. Height 2 ft. Cilicia. G.C. III. 

 23:117. WiLUELM Miller. N. TAYLOR.f 



ASPHODELUS (Greek name of unknown origin). 

 Liliaccic. Asphodel. Hardy herbaceous stemless 

 plants, with white, lily-like fls. in long racemes, fleshy 

 fascicled roots, and firm, linear, radical, tufted Ivs.: 

 perianth funnel-shaped; segms. 6, oblong-ligulate, ob- 

 tuse, equal, with a distinct nerve on the back, and 

 always ascending. — Probably a half-dozen species in 

 Medit. region and India. 



The asphodel of the ancients, or king's spear, is 

 Asphodeline lutea, which see. Homer mentions the 

 asphodel meadows of the dead, where the shades of 

 heroes congregated in Hades. The asphodel in Greek 

 mythology was the peculiar flower of the dead. It has 

 always been a common weed in Greece, and its pallid 

 yellow flowers are associated with desert places and 

 tombs. The word daffodil is a corruption of asphodel. 

 The asphodel of the early English and PVench poets is 

 Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus. J. G. Baker, in his revis- 

 ion of the genus in Jour. Linn. Soo. 15:268-272 (1877), 

 refers forty species of other botanists to ^4. ramosus, the 

 dominant type, of which he makes three subspecies. 

 These subspecies are here kept distinct, for horticul- 

 tural purposes, as good species. They are the ones first 

 described below. A. ramosus and A. albus are among 

 the few current trade names in America. 



Culture simple; see Asphodeline. 



A. Plant perennial: Ivs. S-angled. 



B. Scape long. 



c. Racemes simple or sparingly branched. 



albus, Mill., not Willd. Branching Asphodel. 

 Bracts buff-colored when young: filaments deltoid at 

 the base: caps, medium-sized, 5-6 lines long, subglobu- 

 lar or ellipsoid. S. Eu. 



cerasiferus, J. Gay. Bracts pale yellow: filaments 

 wedge-shaped at the base, but rapidly becoming awl- 

 shaped: caps, large, 8-10 lines thick, flattish globular, 

 umbilicate.. W. Medit. region. 



cc. Racemes much branched or panicled. 



comosus. Ford. Radical Ivs. sword-shaped, 1-1 H ft- 

 long, aoutish, sharply keeled on the back: panicle 

 branched, the terminal racemose cluster 2-3 in. diam.; 

 petals white, }i-}im. long. Himalayan region. 



tenuifolius, Cav. (.4. microcdrpus, and .4. gstivus, 

 Reiehb.). Bracts pale yellow at first : filaments 4-angled 

 at the base" caps, small, 3^ Unes long; obovoid-glo- 

 bose. Medit., Canary Isls. 



BB. Scape short, almost wanting. 



aca&lis, Desf. Lvs. 6-20, in a dense rosette, 3—4 in. 

 long, minutely pubescent: fls. 6-20, in a crowded 

 corymb; segms. of perianth 2-3 lines wide. Algiers. 

 B.M. 7004. 



AA. Plant annual: lvs. cylindrical, hollow. 



flstuldsus, Linn. Height 16-20 in.: lvs. 12-30, in a 

 dense rosette, 6-12 in. long, striate, awl-like, glabrous: 

 segms. of perianth 1-2 lines wide, lined with pink: buds 

 pink: fls. pinkish. France and Portugal to Syria, 

 Arabia and Afghanistan. B.M. 984. L.B.C. 12:1121. 

 — Needs protection under glass in winter. If removed 

 early in autumn to a greenhouse, it may be induced to 

 seed freely. 



A. cre(icu5==Asphodeline liburnica. — .4. iufeus=A9phodeline 

 lutea. — -.4. Villdrsii, V'erl., is a form of \. ramosus, from E. France, 

 with long, dense racemes and dark brown bracts. 



WiLHELM Miller N. TAYLOR.f 



