LILY FAMILY 



In May or June the inconspicuous flowers appear; later a 

 wealth of green berries sits in the axils of the leaf -like branchlets; 

 finally in late summer these berries become brilliant scarlet and 

 the asparagus bed is fair to see. 



Three species of Ornamental Asparagus are in cultivation, two 



named Asparagus and one called 

 Smilax. 



Asparagus Sprengeri, native 

 to Natal, South Africa, has long, 

 slender, drooping branches; the 

 so-called leaves narrow, flat, 

 about an inch long, glossy green; 

 the flowers white and small, six- 

 parted in short racemes, slightly 

 fragrant; the berry small and 

 red. The plant is of easy cult- 

 ure and very popular for porch 

 boxes and hanging baskets. 

 Professor Bailey records that it 

 was introduced to horticulture by 

 Dammann and Co., Italy, and 

 named for their collector, Herr 

 Sprenger. 



Asparagus plumdsus is the species with fine thread-like 

 foliage; branches flattish and horizontal. This too is most 

 popular for decoration, the sprays holding their shape and color 

 for weeks. The varieties nina and lenutssimus are preferred to 

 the type. 



The florist's Smilax, grown for decoration a,nd sold by the string 

 or by the yard, is also an asparagus, little as it approaches our 

 idea of one — Asparagus medeolbides. It, too, is of South African 

 origin. Its twining stem is slender, perfectly smooth, and its so- 

 called leaves are an inch or more long, thick, glossy green on both 

 sides, strong-nerved, and standing edge-wise to the stem. The 

 flowers are small, white, solitary, fragrant; and the succeeding 

 berries dark-green. 



54 



Ornamental Asparagus. Asparagus 

 Springeri 



