ASPARAGUS PERR/r.S. 189 



leaf twists at tlic stalk, aiitl so turns its upper surface 

 dowinvaril to the j^rouiul. In time the female flowers 

 j^M'ow into brilliant scarlet berries, which look as if they 

 were gummed on to the lower side of the leaves ; and 

 these berries contain a coui)Ie of little hanl-shelled 

 nutlets, which are dispersed by the assistance of birds, 

 as in most other similar cases. 



Now, in butcher's brocMii, almost all these leaf-like 

 Ijranches still bear flowers and berries on the mid-rib of 

 their expandetl surface ; but there are a {,'ood man)- 

 barren branches on each bush, which act as leaves pure 

 and simple ; while a few scales l)eneath each such 

 branch represent the ori^'inal flat blades (jf the primitive 

 lily ancestor. In aspara^^us, the same process has been 

 carried just one step further. The youn^' spring' shoots 

 here bear flat mauve scales, not unlike in sha[)e to an 

 abortive ^^rass-blade ; but on the upper branches these 

 scales become ver)- small and inconspicuous indeed, 

 while from their an<,des there project a number of lon<^f 

 needle-like j;rcen points, which form the practical work- 

 in<4 f(jliaj^e of the plant at the present day. I^vcry here 

 and there, three or four of them bear a little drooping; 

 [greenish lily-flowcr each at their summit, especiall)- near 

 the lower end of each branchlet ; but b)- far the j;reater 

 number spring in little clusters of four or (\\\i toj^ethcr 

 from the axil of a scaly leaf, without anv flowers at all 

 at their pointed ends. They are, in fact, abortive 

 flower-stalks, like the barren branches on the butcher's 

 broom : only in this case the vast majority of flower- 

 stalks are thus abortive, and only a very small number 

 devote themselves to their proper function of producing 

 blossoms. 



