ASPHODELINE 



BB. Fls. yellow : raceme lax. 

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

 tenMor, Ledeb. Height 1 ft. Caucasus, Armen., N. 

 Persia. B.M. 262G.— Smaller tban A. liiteus, with finer 

 Ivs. and smaller, fewer and paler fls. 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. Bracts small, 114-S lines long, short-cuspidate. 

 Liburnica, Reichb. {A. CrMica, Vis., not Boiss.). 

 Height 1-2 ft. Greece, Crete, Dalmatia, Austria, Italy, 

 not Asia Minor. L.B.C. 10: 915 as A. Cretica. 



brevicatiUB, J. Gay (A. Cretica, Boiss., not Vis.). St. 

 often flexuose, that of all the others here described being 

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

 AAA. Stems leafy only at the base : fls. white: racemes 

 dense. 

 B. Racemes usually simple. 

 C. Stems having leaf-scales : height 8 ft. 

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

 large, reddish white. Cappadocia. G.C. III. 22: 397. 

 cc. Stems not having leaf-scales : height 114-S ft. 

 Damascfina, Baker. Height VA-2 ft.: bracts membra- 

 naceous, lanceolate, the lowest 9-12 lines long. Mt. 

 Lebanon. 



Bal4ns8B, J. Gay. Height 2 ft.: bracts scarious, 6-9 

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

 BU. Sacemes much panicled. 

 iathmocirpa, Gay. Height 2 ft. Cilicia. G.C. III. 

 23:117. W M 



ASPH6DELTIS (Greek name of unknc 

 &cea. Hardy herbaceous stemless pi 

 lily-like flowers in long racemes fltshj fascicled root 

 and firm, linear.radical, tufted le ii e 

 Perianth funnel-shaped ; segments i 

 oblong-ligulate, obtuse, equil with 

 distinct nerve on the back , and alwi\ 

 ascending. The Asphodel of the an x^/ / 1 



cients, or King's Spear, is Atphode 1^ « ' 

 line luteus, which see. Homer men 

 tions the Asphodel meadows of the 

 dead, where the shades of heroes con 

 gregated in Hades. The Asphodel m 

 Greek mj-thology was the peculiar 

 flower of'the dead. It has always been a /> 

 common weed in Greece, and its pallid yel ^ " 

 low flowers are associated with desert places i' 

 and tombs. The word daffodil is a corrup ^ 



tion of Asphodel. The Asphodel of the early 

 English and French poets is JSarcissus 

 Pseudo-narcissus. J. G. Baker in his re 

 vision of the genus in Jour Lmn Soc 15 

 268-272 (1877), refers 40 species of other 

 botanists to A. ramosus, the domimnt type of which 

 makes three subspecies. These subspecies are here ki 

 distinct, for horticultural purposes as good speci 

 They are the ones flrst described below A tamo^wi £ 

 A . a Ibus are the only current trade names m Ame 

 Culture simple; see Asphodelme 



A. Plant perennial : Ivs.S-angled. 



B. Scape long. 



c. Bacemes simple or sparingly branched. 



41bus, Miller, not Willd. Branching Asphodel. 

 Bracts buff colored when young : filaments deltoid at 

 the base : capsules medium-sized, 5-6 lines long, sub- 

 globular or ellipsoid. Southern Eu. 



cerasiferus, J. Gay. Bracts pale yellow : filaments 

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

 shaped : capsule large, 8-10 lines thick, flatfish globu- 

 lar, mnbilicate. Western Mediterranean region, 

 cc. Sacemes much branched or panicled. 



microcirpus, Vis. (A . ast'i vus. Brot.) . Bracts pale yel- 

 low at first: filaments 4-angIed at the base: capsule small, 

 3-4 lines long, obovoid -globose. Mediterranean, Canaries. 



ASPIDISTRA 



109 



BE. Scape short, almost wanting. 



acatilis, Desf. Lvs. 6-20, in a dense rosette, 3-4 in. 



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



segments of perianth 2-3 lines wide. Algiers. B.M. 7004. 



AA. Plant annual : leaves cylindrical, hollow. 



Hstulosus, Linn. Height 16-20 in. : lvs. 12-311, in adense 

 rosette, R-12 in. long, striate, awl-likc irhilmius : seg- 

 ments of perianth 1-2 lines widi. liu'-.l wiih j.ink: buds 

 pink; fls. pinkish. Prance and l'..itu-iil t.i Sm-Iu. Arabia 

 and Afghanistan. B.M. 984. L.B.r. IJ: 1 l;^4.-Xeedspro- 

 tection under glass in winter. If removed early in autumn 

 to a greenhouse, it may be induced to seed freely. 



A. Crfdcuj! — Asphodeline Liburnica.— A. iiKews — Asphodel- 

 ine hitens.— A.;Fi»arsii, Verl.. is aform of A. ramosus, from 

 E. France, with long, dense racemes and dark brown bracts. 

 N. 1:125. -w. M. 



ASPIDISTRA (Greek, a smn((,)-0H(Kr,f7M'<!ic;; referring, 

 probably, to the shape of the stignial. Liliaeeie. A 

 popular florists' plant, grown for its still', sliiiniii:. Inau- 

 tiful foliage, and still more interesting t'.ii n- ivmai kniile 

 fls., which are inconspicuous because 1"mim r\..^. i.. the 

 ground. The casual observer never susjirct^ tii:il .Aspi- 

 distra is a liliaceous plant. The parts of the fl. in mono- 

 cotyledons are typically in 3's. The genus Aspidis- 

 tra is considered .abnormal, as u.sually having its parts 

 in 4's. This tetramerous st.ate (which is here con- 

 sidered the normal one, and described below) is pic- 

 tured in B.M. 2499, but the species was first described 

 upon a trimerous .state, and pictured in B.R. 628. In A. 

 lurida the trimerous state must be regarded as an ex- 

 ceptional reversion : in A. typica, B.M. 7484. the tri- 

 ! is thought to be constant. Of all plants that 



158. Aspidistra 



are rented for the temporary decoration of public halls, 

 Aspidistra lurida is one of the greatest favorites, as it 

 stands much abuse, such as dust, dry air, and lack of 

 water and light. It is, however, naturally fond of wa- 

 ter, and grows freely on the margins of ponds or streams, 

 especially south. In rich soil the variegation often dis- 

 appears altogetheruntil the plants begin to starve, hence 

 a compost of nearly half sand is desirable. The best 

 method of propagation is by means of division in spring, 

 before active growth begins, as the young leaves are not 

 then disfigured. 



lilrida, Ker-Gawl. Fig. 158. Lvs. 15-20 in. long, stiff, 

 evergreen, oblong-lanceolate, sharp -pointed, radical j 



