SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 325 



a hanging man, two lateral lobes representing the arms, and 

 the middle one, which is longer and 2-cleft, the body and legs. 

 Man Orchis. Dry chalky pastures. Fl. June. 



(286) Asparagus. 



A. officinalis : stems erect, much-branched, 1-2 feet high, 

 elegantly feathered by the numerous clusters of fine subulate 

 leaves; flowers small, greenish- white, hanging, 2-3 together 

 in the axils of the principal branches ; berries small, red,, 

 globular. Maritime sands. Fl. June, July. The garden 

 Asparagus is a form improved by cultivation. 



(287) Simethis. 



S. bicolor : leaves radical, long, linear, grass-like ; stem 

 leafless, one foot high, with a loose terminal panicle of erect 

 flowers; perianth spreading, of six oblong segments, white, 

 purplish on the outside. Sandy heaths in Kerry and Dorset- 

 shire. Fl. May. 



(288) Narthecium. BOG ASPHODEL. 



N. ossifragum : stem stiff, erect, ^-1 foot high ; leaves 

 linear, vertically flattened, sheathing at their base in two op- 

 posite ranks ; flowers bright yellow, in a stiff terminal raceme. 

 Bogs arid wet moors. Fl. June, July. 



(289) Tofieldia. SCOTTISH ASPHODEL. 



T. palustris : leaves small, sword-shaped ; flower-stem 6-8 

 inches high, terminated by a globular or ovoid spike of small 

 yellowish- white flowers. Mountain bogs. Fl. July. 



