310 



LILIACEiE. 



Asparagus. 



5. ASPARAGUS. Linn.; Endl. gen. 1164. ASPARAGUS. 



[Said to be from the Greek, asparagos, a young shoot or turion.] 



Perianth 6-parted, somewhat campanulate ; the segments spreading at the apex. Stamens 

 6 : anthers peltate. Ovary 3-celled, with 2 amphitropous ovules in each cell : style short : 

 stigma 3-lobed. Berry 3-celled, the cells 2-seeded. — Perennial herbs, or sometimes under- 

 shrubs, branching ; the branches often spiny. Leaves narrow, fasciculate. Flowers small, 

 mostly axillary and solitary ; the pedicels articulated in the middle. 



5. Asparagus officinalis, Linn. Common Asparagus. 



Unarmed ; stem herbaceous, erect, much branched ; leaves setaceous, flexible. — Linn. sp. 

 1. p. 313 ; Engl. hot. t. 339 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 235 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 357 ; Beck, hot. p. 363 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 218. 



Root creeping. Stem 2-5 feet high, very smooth ; leaves in numerous small fascicles. 

 Flowers axillary or in pairs, drooping, greenish yellow, deeply 6-parted ; the segments lan- 

 ceolate. Berry globose, red when mature. Seeds black. 



Gravelly and rocky shores, within the reach of salt water : not uncommon in the vicinity 

 of New-York and on Long Island : thoroughly naturalized in some places : originally from 

 Europe. Fl. June - July. Fr. September. 



6? ALETRIS. Linn.; Endl. gen. 1259. STAR-GRASS. 



[From the Greek, aleiar, meal ; because of the mealy appearance of the flowers.] 



Perianth tubular or tubular-campanulate, rugose, 6-cleft, persistent ; the tube cohering with 

 the ovary at the base. Stamens 6, included : filaments short, inserted at the base of the 

 segments of the perianth : anthers sagittate, introrse. Ovary ovoid, 3-celled : ovules 

 numerous, anatropous, arranged in a double series and somewhat ascending. Style formed 

 of the tapering summit of the ovary, triangular, 3-lobed at the summit, and finally separable 

 into 3 parts : stigmas minute. Capsule invested with the rough persistent perianth, ovoid- 

 triangular, coriaceous ; the 3 carpels separating at the summit loculicidally, each with a 

 portion of the style. Seeds obovoid-oblong, slightly curved, striate. Embryo minute, 

 roundish, next the hilum, in fleshy and oily albumen. — Perennial herbs, with a thick abrupt 

 rhizoma. Leaves all radical, in a spreading cluster, linear-lanceolate, entire. Scape 

 elongated, simple. Flowers in a terminal spike-like raceme. 



1. Aletris farinosa, Linn. Star-grass. Colic-root. 



Flowers distinctly pedicellate, oblong-tubular. — Linn. sp. (ed. 2.) 1. p. 456 ; Bot. mag. 



