ASP 



ASP 



ASPANEUS, a fond of Ada Minor, in the Troas, 

 iJcing a part of the forctl of Ida. Strabo. 



ASl'ANG, ill Geography, a town of Germany, in the 

 archduchy of Auftria, fevcnteen miles foiith of Ebcn- 

 fuitli. 



ASPARAGI, in Entomology, a fpecies of Chrysomela 

 (Linn.), with a red thorax marked with two dots of black ; 

 winj-cafes yellow, with a cruciform mark, and four fpots 

 of black. Gi.otfruy calls it le criocert portc croix de I af- 

 perge: it isattilabus afparagi of Scopoli ; Icma afparagi ol 

 Fab. Ent. Syll. Supp. ; cr)'ptoccphalns afparagi of Gmtlin; 

 and aiiclitnia afparagi of Marili. Ent. Brit. I'his niil'chiev- 

 0U3 intruder into the kitchen garden, is but too well known 

 by its depredations in the larva (late upon the beds of afpa- 

 ragus ; it is a little grub of a blackilh-brown colour, that 

 feeds exclufivtly on tiiife plants ; and if neglefttd, will in 

 the courfe of a few days leave nothing but the naked ftalks 

 of the afparagus remaining in thofe beds where they can 

 once take up their rcfidence. Donov. Brit. Inf. &c. 



ASPARAGUS, \n Botany (Atrzafayo;, a young (hoot, 

 before its leaves unfold). Ein. g. 424. Schreb. 573. 

 G^crtn. 16. JufT. 41. Clafs, hesamliia monogynia. Nat. 

 Ox^. farmenlacex. Gni. Cliar. Cal. none. Cor. petals fix, 

 cohering by the clawi, oblong, crcdled into a tube, three 

 alternately interior, permanent. Stam. filaments fix, fili- 

 form, infcrted into the petals, creel, fhorter than the co- 

 rolla ; anthers roundilh. P'ift. germ, turbinate, three-cor- 

 nered ; flyle very fhort ; flignia, a prominent point. Per. 

 berry globular, umbilicated with a point, three-celled. 

 Seeds, two, round, angular on the infide, fmooth. Olf. Ac- 

 cording to Dr. Smith, there arc three lligmata ; the flower 

 appears as if it were monopctalous. 



Eif. Gen. Ciiar. Cor. fix-parted, ere£^, equal, dil. none ; 

 ftyle very fliort ; lligmas three ; berry fuperior, three-celled ; 

 feeds two, externally convex. Smith. 



Species, l. A. officinalis, common afparagus or fperage, 

 Hudf. 145. With. 340. Smith Brit. 369. Eng. Dot. 339. 

 Flor. Dan. 805. " Stem herbaceous, round, ereft, leaves 

 fetaceous; ftipules uniform, fubfolitary." It grows wild in 

 maritime places in the fouth of England, abundantly on 

 the pebbly beach oppofite the ferr)' going Irom Weymouth 

 to Portland ifland. A variety (S. Tiz. A. maritimus craffiore 

 folio, (Dill in Ray's Synop.) has been found in Anglefea. 

 Root perennial, creeping, with very long, thick, fimple 

 fibres ; ftem ereft, oecafionally procumbent, round, fimple, 

 and bearing alternate fcales (or llipules without leaves blow) 

 in the upper part, branching in a paniclcd alternate manner : 

 leaves in tufts, very narrow, and brillly, but flexible ; fti- 

 pules folitary, membranous, triangular, acute, the upper 

 ones ovate and jagged ; flowers from the axlllx of the 

 branches on capillary fimple ftalks, drooping, white, none 

 of the fegments inflexed, in fome the flamens, in others 

 the piftilium oecafionally abortive ; ftylc deeply three-cleft ; 

 berry red. It flowers in Auguft. The above is a defcrip- 

 tion of the plant in its wild Itate in which its ftems are 

 nfually about the fize of a goofc's quill, yet this is now 

 v.ell known to be the origin of our luxuriant garden afpa- 

 ragus, for the cultivation of which ample inltraftions are 

 fabjoined 2. A. ihcUnatus, long-leaved A. " Stem un- 

 armed, round ; branches declined ; leaves fetaceous." This 

 Ttfembles the common fort, but it is higher, has more and 

 much longer leaves ; llipules fohtary, lanceolate-fubulate, 

 •with a membranaceous point at the bafe downwards ; leaves 

 feven or ten \n a bunch, filiform, fpreading. A native of 

 the Cupe. Introduced in 1787, by Mr. MafTon. 3. A. 

 faUaius, fickle-leaved A. Burm. Flor. Zeyl. 36. t. 13. f. 2. 

 *' Prickles fohtary, revcrfed ; branches round ; leaves eufi- 



form, falcated." A native of Ceylon. 4. A. rrtrofraHut, 

 arch-leaved A. " Prickles folitary, branches round, re. 

 rcflefted, and rctrofradted ; leaves fetaceous, fafcicled." 

 Its branches are round dichotomous, warted at the divifions 

 with a minute nodding prickle. The llalks are flirubby, 

 crooked, irregular, eight or ten feet high ; leaves long, nar- 

 row, in clufters like thofe of the larch. A native of the 

 Cape. Cultivated by Miller in 1759. The leaves preferve 

 their verdure all the year. 5. A. itthiopicus. " Prickles 

 folitary, rtverl'cd ; branches angulate ; leaves lanceolate- 

 linear." This is nearly allied to A. falcatus, but the leaves 

 are fmaller, and about feven in a bunch. The llipules put 

 forth a reverled fpine. A native of the Cape. 6. A. nfia- 

 tic'.is, flendtr-ftalked A. " Prickles folitary ; ftem ercd ; 

 branches filiform ; leaves fafcicled, fetaceous." It fends 

 up many weak ftioots in cluilers, and armed with fliaip 

 fpincs at the fides and ends of the ftioots ; leaves in fmall 

 cluilers, and continuing green all the year. 7. A. alius, 

 white A. " Prickles folitary ; branches angular, flexuofe ; 

 leaves fafcicled, triquetrous, awnlefs, deciduous." Stems 

 flirubby, covered with white bark, armed with thorns, three 

 or four feet high, furnifticd with many branches, bearing 

 fliort nanow leaves. Thtfe continue green all the winter, 

 ii fcreened from the froft. A native of Spain and Portugal ; 

 cultivated here in 1640. 8. A. acutifohus, acute-leaved A. 

 " Stem unarmed, angular, flirubby ; leaves ncedle-fhapcd, 

 ratiier ri;;id, perennial, mucronate, equal." It has white, 

 crooked, fhrubby ftalks, four or fiv<".,^feet high, without 

 fpiues ; leaves like thofe of larch, but fhort, and end in 

 prickles. It refcmbles A. aphyllus, from which it differs 

 in ufually having feven leaves together, which are much 

 fmaller. A native of Spain and the Levant. Cultivated 

 by Miller in 1739. 9. A. korridus, thorny A. " Leaflefs, 

 fhrubby, pentagonal ; prickles A«ir-cornered, compreffed, 

 ftriated." The fpines are about the length of the finger. 

 A native of Spain. 10. A. aphyllus, prickly A. " Stem 

 unarmed, angular, fhrubby ; leaves fubulate, ftriated, une- 

 qual, diverging. Stems weak, irregular, furnifhed with 

 iliif, fhort fpines inilsad of leaves ; flowers fmall, of an 

 herbaceous colour ; berries very large, and black when 

 ripe. A native of the fouth of^ Europe. Cultivated here 

 in 1640. II. A. capenfis, cape A. " Spines in fours; 

 branches aggregate, round ; leaves fetaceous." Pink. Aim. 

 t. 78. f. 3. Root tuberous ; ftems fruticofe, filiform, flex- 

 uofe ; branchlets from the axillx of the fpines, filiform, loofe, 

 unarmed, deciduous ; leaflets fetaceous, acute, fhort. A 

 native of the Cape. Cultivated in the royal garden Hamp- 

 ton-court, in 1691. 12. K. Javmcntofus, linear-leaved A. 

 '• Leaves folitarj-, linear-lanceolate ; ftem flexuofe ; prickles 

 recurved." It rifes five or fix feet high ; and its fhoots are 

 fo clofely befet with ftiort crooked ipines that it is diffi- 

 cult to touch the branches. The roots, which are long 

 and fufiform, are eaten with brotli or milk by the inhabit- 

 ants of Ceylon, who are very fond of them. Cultivated 

 in 1 7 14, by the duchefs of Beaufort. 13. A. -nerticillaris, 

 whorl-leaved A. " Leaves verticillate." Found by Tourne- 

 fort in the Levant. 



ASPARAGUS, in Gardening, comprehends one of the 

 moft valuable efculcnt vegetables of the kitchen garden ; it 

 has ereft, herbaceous ftalks, three or four feet in height, 

 and very fine briftly leaves ; it is a perennial fibrous rooted 

 vegetable, the roots being of many years duration, but the 

 tops or ftalks annual. The plants being raifed from feed, 

 after having acquired a period of three or four years growth, 

 produce proper fized afparagus, of which the fame roots 

 furnifh an annual fupply for many years, continuing to rife 

 in perfedlion for fix or eight weeks in the fummer feafon, 



the 



