P/3 CiyjX CLOITS CALEXDAR. 



It must iK-t be imac;incd, however, that the aspar- 

 agus once passed thr()UL,di the buteher's broom sta^^c : 

 tlie resembhmce between the two phuits is rather analo- 

 p[ical than stricti)' j^enetic. Both, doubtless, arc ulti- 

 mately descended from sim[)le typical lily ancestors, 

 which iiail suffered dwarfin^^ of the true leaves through 

 their enforced restriction to dr)' habitats ; and witli both 

 only those individuals have finally siU'vived which 

 happened to diverge in directions adapted to their new 

 mode of life. The butcher's broom has made its way 

 by developin<:j stiff, prickly, am! expanded branches, 

 whose broad j^rccn wini^s do dut)- instead of leaves : tlie 

 asparajTiis has attained the same end by producing vast 

 numbers of small thread-like flower-stalks, only a small 

 proportion of which ever actual 1)' bear perfect flowers, 

 Ikit so far as its blossom is concerned, the asparai^us 

 stands nearer to the prime ancestor than does the 

 butcher's broom : for it still possesses three distinct 

 calyx-picccs and three petals ; whereas in its ally all 

 six parts have loni,^ since grown quite indistinguishable ; 

 and in the minor details of the stamens and pistil the 

 asparagus also retains more markedly than its ally the 

 common ancestral traits. Hence we cannot say that 

 one form has been actually derived from the other : 

 both are rather divergent descendants of a single central 

 ancestor, whose peculiarities each has modified in a 

 different dinxtion. 



