Aseroe pentactina. 



mands more especial notice here, as one of 

 the species appeared in great perfection 

 some years since in one of the stoves at 

 Kew. pVT. J. B.] 



ASEXUAL PLANTS. This term was 

 once applied to cryptogams, but since the 

 discoveries which have been made during 

 the last thirty years, it is no more applic- 

 able to them than to phsenogams. Sexual 

 i organs have now been discovered in every 

 branch of cryptogams. Amongst Fungi 

 alone they are still obscure in several 

 divisions, but if such genera as Leptomitus 

 really belong to Fungi, of which there is 

 little doubt, there is even among them the 

 same type 'as amongst the higher crypto- 

 gams. 



It is, moreover, singular that the impreg- 

 nation of cryptogams comes nearer the 

 type of that in animals than in phseno- 

 gams. Their spermatozoids resemble closely 

 those of animals, and indeed are often 

 more complicated. Amongst Fungi alone, 

 and lichens, which nearly approach Fungi, 

 they are mere cells, without motion, ana- 

 logous to pollen-srains, though they do not 

 germinate like them, at least, so far as has 

 been observed at present. [M. J. B.] 



ASH. The common name for Fraxinus. 



— , BITTER. A West Indian name for 

 Simaruba excelsa. —, CAPE, ffleebergia 

 copensis. — , HOOP. Celtis crassifo'lia. 

 — , MANNA or FLOWERING. Ornus eu- 

 ropcea. — , MOUNTAIN. The Rowan tree, 

 Pyrus Aucuparia. — , POISON. Rhus vene- 

 natum. — , PRICKLY. Xanthoxylon fraxi- 

 •newm. — , RED. Alphitonia excelsa. 



ASH-WEED. An old English name for 

 JZgopodium Podagraria. 



ASPALATHE. (Fr.) Caragana 

 cens. 



ASPALATHUS. A large genus of S. 

 African shrubs or under-shrubs belonging 

 to the pea-flowered tribe of the legumi- 

 nous family. Their leaves are commonly 

 heath-like, often three together (teniato, 

 or sometimes tufted, that is, a number of 

 additional small leaves grow from nearly 

 the same point. The flowers are terminal, 

 racemed, or spiked, and generally yellow, 

 but sometimes bluish purple, red, or white. 

 About 150 species are known, but there is 

 not much of interest about them ; many of 

 them have spiny-pointed leaves, and are 

 not unlike dwarf furze bushes. [A. A. B.] 



ASPARAGUS belongs to the natural 

 order Liliacece, and represents the sub 

 order Asparagece, which are lilies with 

 succulent fruit. The genus consists of 

 many species, but only one is cultivated, 

 the common Asparagus, A. officinalis, so 

 well known for its powerful properties 

 as a diuretic, which are ascribed to the 

 presence of a peculiar principle called as- 

 paragin. See Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom, 

 p. 205. 



The Common Asparagus is a native of 

 several places in Britain near the sea : such 

 as the Isle of Portland, and Kynance Cove, 

 near the Lizard, Cornwall. In the southern 

 parts of Russia and Poland the waste 

 steppes are covered with this plant, which 

 is there- eaten by horses and cattle as 

 j grass. It is also common in Greece, and 

 was formerly much esteemed as a vegetable 

 by the Greeks and Romans. It appears to 

 have been cultivated in the time of Cato 

 the Elder, 200 years B.C. ; and Pliny men- 

 tions a sort that grew in bis time near 

 Ravenua, of which three heads would 

 weigh a pound. 

 I In this country Asparagus is reckoned 

 among the oldest and most delicate of our 

 culinary vegetables ; and in its cultivated 

 state the whole plant has a very graceful 

 appearance. It is noticed by Gerarde in 

 j 1597 ; and in 1670 forced Asparagus was 

 ! supplied to the London market. At 

 Mortlake, Battersea, and other places near 

 ; London, where the soil is suitable, Aspa- 

 ragus is extensively cultivated, and by 

 skilful management is brought to a higher 

 degree of perfection, perhaps, than in any 

 other part of the world. The part of the 

 plant which is used is about six or eight 

 inches of the young shoot, which is con- 

 sidered to be fit for cutting when it has 

 emerged two or three inches out of the 

 I ground, and has a firm, compact, roundish 

 point, of a fine green colour, slightly 

 tinged with purple. In preparing Aspa- 

 ragus for table, its delicate flavour is 

 rather deteriorated than improved by the 

 additions which skilful cooks deem neces- 

 sary for it and other vegetables. It is 

 usually boiled and served alone with melted 

 butter and salt, or on toasted bread with 

 i white sauce ; and the smallest heads are 

 ' sometimes cut into small pieces and served 

 j as a substitute for green peas. Its virtues 

 ! are well known ; as a diuretic it is un- 

 equalled ; and for those of sedentary habits 

 ' who suffer from symptoms of gravel, it 



