186 122. Asparagus. 16. ASPARAGI. Pl.end.ph. 
Stem cylindrical, lying down, very much branched, pa- 
nicled; leaves linear, bristlelike, soft, 3 or 5 together; stipules 
very small ; flowers yellowish, peduncled, mostly dioicous, 
&. sativus . Stem upright. 
Asparagus, Raii Syn. 267, 1 ; Park . 454. 
Asparagus sativus, Ger. em. 1 1 10. 
Sparroic-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. SMILACEiE. R. Brown. 
Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual; perigonium free, 
pctaloid, 6-sepaled ; stamens 6, inserted near the base of the 
sepales ; ovary 3 or 4-celled ; styles often 3-cut ; stigmata 1 
to 3 ; herry 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 ; corculum cylindrical, 
opposite or near to the umbilicus. — Leaves curvedly ribbed, 
opposite, alternate or verticiilate; flowers solitary, or race- 
mose, whitish; berries before they are ripe usually spotted. 
A. Flowers hermaphrodite . 
Perigonium 6-toothed, tubular ; 
stamens inserted above the base Polygonatum. 125. 
Perigonium 6-toothed, campanulate ; 
stamens inserted at the base . . Convallaria. 124. 
Perigonium 8 -parted, spreading Paris, 123‘. 
B. Flowers dioicous or unisexual . 
Perigonium 6-parted; androphore cylindrical. Ruscus. 126. 
I. 123. PARIS. Matthiolus. Herb-Paris. 
Perigonium 8-parted (sometimes 6 to 10), expanding; 
4 outer sepales, broad, herbaceous; 4 inner linear, coloured; 
stamens 8 (sometimes 6 or 10); anthers adnate to the mid- 
dle of the filament; filaments inserted at the base of the peri- 
gonium ; styles 4 ; stigmata 4 ; ovary free, rather globose ; 
berry 4-celled ; seeds 6 or 8, ovate, inserted in 2 rows at the 
inner angles of the cells: perisperm fleshy ; corculum minute, 
near the hilum. — Rhizoma creeping, perennial; stem simple; 
leaves 3-ribbed, verticiilate, about the middle of the stem ; 
peduncle terminal, solitary. 
