A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



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31 



99. ASPARAGUS. ASPARAGUS. 



Stems fleshy and unbranched at first, at length feathery 

 and much branched. Leaves reduced to tiny scales, the plant 

 appearing leafless. Flowers small, solitary, or in various sorts 

 of clusters. Petals separate or slightly connected at the base. 

 Fruit a berry. {Convallariaceac.) 



Asparagus. Asparagus officinalis. Mature stem much 

 branched, 3-8 ft. high, the tiny clustered branchlets appear- 

 ing leaf-like. Flower greenish, drooping. Berry red, about 

 Ys in. in diameter. May. New Brunswick to Virginia. Culti- 

 vated and escaped, but often apparently wild near sand dunes 

 and salt marshes. Native of Europe. Fig. 99. 



100. Leaves long, often grass-like, with the margins parallel, 



or nearly so. (Exceptions are a Wild Leek, No. 107, the 



Blazing-star, No. 119, and the Colic root, No. 118.) (Nos. 



101-129.) 



Flower cluster a spike or a simple or branched raceme (see 



Figs. 1 17-123) no. 116 



Flower chistcrs not spikes or racemes. 



Flower more than i>4 in. long or wide, never white . . no. 112 

 Flower (not the cluster) less than i in. long or wide, usually 

 much less, if approaching i in. then white 



