IX. 

 ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS. 



Common Asparagun. 



Class VI. Hexandria.— 0/f/er I. Monogynia. 



Nat. Ord. Asphodele.e. 



Gen. Char. Perianth inferior, six-parted, deciduous. 



Stigmas three. Berry globose, three-celled, few-seeded. 



Spec. Char. Stem herbaceous, erect, rouPxded, much 



branched. Leaves setaceous, fasciculate, flexible. 



S Y N N Y M E S. 

 Greek .... ifr/tfayo;- 



C Asparagus Sativa. Bankin Pinax, 489 ; Ger. Em. 1 1 10. 

 Latin, ■ • > \ Asparagus, ftaii. Syn. 267. 



' Asparagus Officinalis. Lin. Sp. PI. 448. 

 French . . Asperge. 



Italian . . Sparagio ; Asparago. ' 



Spanish.. Esparraguera ; Esparrago. 

 German. . Spargel. 

 Dutch .... Spargie. 

 Polish .... Szparag. 

 Arabic . . . Yeramya, 



Description. — The root is a collection of fleshy fibres, of a 

 yellowish or ash colour, attached to a thick, hard, capitate, 

 transverse stock. The stems are numerous, and appear in the 

 spring under the form of young shoots, (turiones,) cylindrical, 

 greenish, covered with scales, and terminating in a cone-like 

 pointed bud ; this expands as the season advances, and the stems 

 attain the height of three or four feet. The leaves are linear, 

 setaceous, soft, green, and disposed in fascicles of from three to 

 five on the stem ; at the base of each fasicle a very small mem- 

 branous stipule is discovered. The flowers are drooping, 

 greenish-yellow, and spring from the axils of the branches, 

 either solitary or two or three together, on a pedicel articulated 

 in the middle. The perianth is inferior, campanulate, and 

 deeply divided into six segments. The six stamens are shorter 

 than the perianth, and inserted into its base. The germen is 

 three-cornered, surmounted by a short style, and a ti-igonal 

 stigma. The fruit is a spherical berry, of a bright red colour, 

 with three cells, each containing tivo hard, smooth, angular 

 seeds. Plate II. fig. 2. («) the root ; {b) the young stem : 



c 



