186 122. Asparagus. 16. ASPAUAGI. PLe?id.ph. 



Stem cylindrical, lying down, very much branched, pa- 

 nlcled; leaves linear, bristlelike, soft, 3 or 5 together; stipules 

 very small ', Jlowers yellowish, peduncled, mostly dioicous. 



^. sativus. Stem upright. 



Asparagus, Raii Sijn. 267, 1 ; Park. 434. - 

 Asparagus sativus, Ger. em. 1 110. 

 Sparrow-grass. Cultivated spearage. 



Cultivated in gardens and fields, for a pot-herb. The 

 young shoots are diuretic, and communicate a violet scent 

 to the urine. 



Fam. XII. 17. SMILACE^. R. Brown. 



Floiuers hermaphrodite or unisexual; perigonium free, 

 petaloid, 6-sepaled ; stamens 6, inserted near the base of the 

 sepales ; ovary 3 or 4-celled ; styles often 3-cut ; stigmata 1 

 to 3; lerry globose; seeds 1 to 6, roundish or angular, af- 

 fixed one above the other to the inner angles of the cells ; 

 spermodermis simple, membranaceous, not hard, black, nor 

 brittle; perisperm cartilaginous, hard; corcnlum cylindrical, 

 opposite or near to the umbilicus. — Leaves curvedly ribbed, 

 opposite, alternate or verticillate ; floivers solitary, or race- 

 mose, whitish ; berries before they are ripe usually spotted. 



A. Flowers hermaphrodite. 



Perigonium 6-toothed, tubular ; 

 stamens inserted above the base Polygon atum. 125. 



Perigonium 6-toothed, campanulate ; 

 stamejis inserted at the base Convallaria. 121'. 



Perigonium 8-parted, spreading Paris. 123. 



" B. Floivers dioicous or iinisexual. 

 Perigonium 6-fa.Yted; androphore cylindrical. Ruscus. 126. 



I. 123. PARIS. Matthiolus. Herb-Paris. 



Perigonium 8-parted (sometimes 6 to 10), expanding; 

 4 outer sepales, broad, herbaceous; ^ inner linear, coloured; 

 stamens 8 (sometimes 6 or 10); ant Iters adnate to the mid- 

 dle of the filament; filaments inserted at the baseof the peri- 

 gonium; stifles -i^; stigmata A:-, ovary free, rather globose; 

 lerry 4-celled ; seeds 6 or 8, ovate, inserted in 2 rows at the' 

 inner angles of the cells; perisperm fleshy ; corcnlum minute, 

 near the hilum. — Rhizoma creeping, perennial ; s/em simple ; 

 leaves 3-ribbed, verticillate, about the middle of the stem ; 

 peduncle terminal, solitary. 



