178 WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
XVII. Bog Asphodel (Narth£cium). Flowers spreading, in a spike-like cluster, filaments 
woolly ; root creeping. 
XVIII. Scottish Asphodel (Tofield'ia). Flowers spreading, in a spike-like cluster ; styles 
and stigmas 3. 
Fruit a berry ; roots creeping. 
XIX. Herb Paris. Flowers solitary, of usually 8 perianth-lobes, 8 stamens, and 4 stigmas ; 
leaves net-veined, 4 in a circle at the base of the flower. 
I. BUTCHER’S BROOM. (RUS'CUS. Linn.) — Flowers imperfect, with stamens and without 
pistils (male) on one plant and with pistils and without stamens (female) on another (dioecious), 
apparently stalkless in the middle of the leaf. Perianth of 6 free lobes, the 3 inner smaller than 
the outer, inserted below the seedcase (inferior ) ; stamens 3, the filaments completely united into 
a tube, on the top of which are the anthers in the male flowers and which are absent in the 
female, inserted on the base of the perianth-lobes ; carpels 3, united into a 1 -celled seedcase which 
is contained in the tube of the filaments, a short thick style, and pin-head-like (capitate) stigma ; 
fruit a i-celled, 1- or 2-seeded berry. Shrubs with hard green branching stems bearing minute 
scale-like leaves in the axils of which spread flattened, evergreen leaf-like branches (cladodia), in 
the middle of each of which is placed the flower. 
Common Butcher’s Broom, Knee-holly. (Rus'cus acule&tus. Linn.)— The only 
British species. As just described. An erect branched shrub, with its dark evergreen false leaves 
(cladodia) egg-shaped (ovate) and ending in a sharp spine, in the middle of many of which are 1 
or 2 very small yellowish-green stalkless flowers with a purple pistil, or later on in the year a 
stalkless bright red round berry. [ Plate 58. 
Uncommon. In woods and thickets : not uncommon in the south of England, but rare and 
perhaps not native elsewhere in the British Isles. March — May, and often again in the autumn 
in cultivated species. Shrub. 
II. ASPAR AGUS. Linn. — Flowers small, green or brownish, drooping, on very slender i-flowered 
stalks which are jointed (articulated) near the middle, 1 or more in the axils of the scale-like 
leaves. Perianth of 6 almost free nearly equal lobes, bell-shaped, inserted below the seedcase 
(inferior) ; stamens 6, inserted on the base of the perianth-lobes ; pistil of 3 carpels, united into a 
3-celled seedcase, 1 thread-like style, and 3 stigmas, sometimes with imperfect pistils ; fruit a 
3-celled, 3-6-seeded berry. Herbs or shrubs with branched stems, minute scale-like membranous 
leaves in the axils of which are numerous short green bristle-like branches (cladodia), which perform 
the functions of leaves, and stout creeping roots. 
Common Asparagus. (Aspar'ag’us marit'imus. Mill.)— The only British species. 
As just described. The flowers are pale yellowish-green, drooping, on slender stalks, 1 or 2 
together in the axils of the branches and some of the scale-like leaves ; the berries are round and 
scarlet ; the stem is round, prostrate at the base, and producing ascending branches about 1 foot 
high ; and the bristle-like false leaves (cladodia) are short and flexible. (Asparagus officinalis. 
Linn.) \Plate 58. 
The cultivated Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis), which is occasionally found as an escape, differs 
very slightly from the wild species, except that it is altogether larger and erect. The true leaves 
are very easily seen on the young shoots, which are such a favourite vegetable ; they are triangular, 
and often tinged with purple, and look like scales. Asparagus was cultivated by the Romans. 
