A S C 
A S C 
foist h of France, the mountains about Nice, and in Spain. 
It flowers at the fame time with the other, and was culti¬ 
vated in 1596 by Gerard. 
II. Leaves revolute at the fldcs. 18. Afclepias arbo- 
refcens, or arborefcent fwallow-wort: leaves ovate, (lem 
Shrubby, fubvillofe. This has the flower and fruit of the 
next fpecies. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Cul¬ 
tivated in 1714 by the duchefs of Beaufort. It flow'ersin 
D ecember. 
19. Afclepias fruticofa, or ftirubby or willow-leaved 
fwallow-wort: leaves linear lanceolate, ftem Shrubby. It 
is a native of the Cape, and w as cultivated by the duchefs 
of Beaufort in 1714. It flowers from June to September. 
20. A fclepias repanda, orrepand fwallow-wort: leaves 
revolute repand hairy. Native country unknown. 
2r. Afclepias Sibirica, or Siberian fwallow-wort: leaves 
linear lanceolate, oppoflte, or in threes ; flem decumbent. 
Native of Siberia, and flowers in July and Auguft. 
22. Afclepias verticillata, or verticillate fwallow-wort: 
leaves linear verticillate, (fern erefb This rifes with flen- 
der upright flalks, at the top of which grow umbels of 
fin a 11 white flowers. Native of North America. 
III. Leaves alternate. 23. A fclepias rubra, or red fwal¬ 
low-wort : leaves ovate, umbels many from the fame com¬ 
mon peduncle. Stem upright, Ample, annual. Leaves 
acuminate. Native of Virginia. 
24. Afclepias tuberofa, or tuberous fwallow-wort: 
leaves lanceolate, flem divaricate, hairy; flowers bright 
orange colour. Native of North America ; and was culti¬ 
vated in 1690 in the royal garden at Hampton-court. 
IV. Leaveslanceolate,oblong. 25. Afclepias filiformis, 
or narrow leaved fwallow-wort: leaves filiform, flem 
erecl, umbels lateral elongate-peduncled. 26. Afclepias 
grandiflora, or great-flowering fwallow-wort: leaves peti- 
olate oblong hairy, flem Ample hirt ere< 5 l, flowers axillary 
peduncled. Found at the Cape by Thunberg. 
27. Afclepias carnofa, or flefhy-leaved fwallow-wort: 
leaves ovate, fiefhy, very fmooth. Native of China. 
28. Afclepias fcandens,orclimbingfwallow-wort: leaves 
oblong-lanceolate, umbels lateral ; flow'ers of a fulphur 
colour. Native of Carthagena in South America. 
29. Afclepias procera, or bell-flowered gigantic fwallow- 
wort ; leaves ovate-oblong, petioles very fhort, corollas 
fubcampanulate. It is a native of Peril \ 
30. Afclepias parviflora, or fmall-fiowered fwallow- 
wort: leaves lanceolate, acuminate, fmooth, oppoflte, 
drawn to a point at the bafe ; Item fuffruticofe, upright; 
umbels lateral, folitary. Native of Carolina and Eafi 
Florida. 
31. Afclepias linaria, or toadflax-leaved fwallow-wort: 
leaves fcattered, fubulate-channelled ; umbels lateral, ma¬ 
ny-flowered. It has been cultivated in the royal garden 
at Madrid; and flowers there from Auguft to Oflober. 
32. Afclepias Mexicana, or Mexican fwallow-wort: 
leaves fix together, in whorls, lanceolate ; flowers umbel- 
led. Native of Mexico ; and cultivated in the royal gar¬ 
den at Madrid. 
33. Afclepias fufca : flem creeping, leaves cordate-lan¬ 
ceolate, umbels axillary in pairs. Flowers purple, very 
fmall. Native of Cochin-China. 
34. Afclepias viminalis : liem fuffruticofe, twining, fili¬ 
form; leaves oppoflte, lanceolate, fmooth; umbels late¬ 
ral, many-flowered. This plant rifes by very flender 
weakly (talks, and frequently fpreads itfelf to the diftance 
of fome yards from the main root. It has very few’ leaves, 
but many flowersdifpofed in large umbellate groups. The 
whole plant is of a dark green colour, very full of milk, 
and common in the larger inland woods of Jamaica. 
Propagation and Culture. In this numerous genus, only 
two fpecies (16 and 17) are European; two or three are 
from South America; the red are natives of North Ame¬ 
rica, the Eafi and Weft Indies, or Africa. Such as are 
inhabitants of North America, are, as well as the Euro¬ 
peans, hardy enough to bear the open air; and therefore 
are proper for large borders in pleafure-grounds, and to 
Vol. II. No. 70. 
mix with fhrubs. The other fpecies requir e the prqteflion 
of the green-houfe or (love : and all of them are tali pereiu 
nials, flowering from June to Auguft or September, madly 
dying down to :he root in autumn. They fhould have 
little water, efpecially in winter ; for, ks they abound with 
a milky juice, much wet will rot them. They mav be 
propagated by feeds, where thefe can be obtained; r by 
cuttings. The hardy forts may be increafed by parting the 
roots; and may be transplanted any time before the roots 
(hoot in the fpring. The fourteenth 3nd twenty-fourth 
forts are propagated by feeds. They fhould be fown in 
pots, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed to bring up the 
plants, which fhould be inured to the open air as foon as 
the weather wil 1 permit; for, if they are drawn up weak, 
they feldom recover it. When they are of a proper 
flrength to remove, they fhould be Shaken out of the-pots, 
and planted in a warm border fix inches afunder, being 
careful to fhade them from the fun until they have taken 
frefh root. During the fummer they mud be kept clean 
from weeds, and, when their flalks decay in autumn, fome 
rotten tan Should be laid over the ground 10 keep out the 
froft, but it fhould be removed in the fpring before the 
plants put out new (hoots; the following fummer they 
will require no other care than before, and the next 
winter they mu ft be covered as in the former. The fe- 
cond fpring the roots may be tranfplanted where they are 
to remain ; the roots will then he firong enough to flower 
in fummer, and will laft feveral years, efpecially if they 
are covered with tan to keep out the froft, but they Should 
not be afterwards removed ; for, when the roots are large, 
they will not bear tranfplanting. 
ASCLOS'TER, a town of Sweden, in South Gothland, 
twelve miles north of Wardberg. 
AS'CO, a town of Spain, in Catalonia, and viguery of 
Tortofa, fituated on the Ebro : ten leagues from Tortofu. 
ASCOB'OLUS, f. in botany, a genus of the clafs 
cryptogamia, order fungi. Eflential generic charadlers— 
Fungus hemifphaerical, containing oblong veficles, fome- 
whatimmerfed in its difk, which elaftically eje< 5 l the feeds. 
There are four fpecies defcribed in Albertini’s Confpedtus 
Fungorum ; viz. 
1. Afcobolus lignatilis, the larger wood afeobolus: 
ftipitate gregarious; colour a dirty yellow inclining to 
greenifh ; on the outfide whitifh brown, with a fhortiffi 
thickifh ftalk, dilated into a plane marginated crown. 
This fpecies is fhown in the annexed Engraving at fig. 2. 
It grows upon trees. With the following it agrees as to 
the branny appearance of the outfide, but differs from it 
with refpedl to the ftalk, Shape, larger fize, and place of 
growth. The ftalk from one and a half to two lines in 
length and thicknefs, in fix hundred fpecimens conflantly 
the fame ; obconical, the upper part dilated into a crown, 
either plane or Somewhat concave ; from four to fix lines 
in breadth, dotted with a very great number of fmall 
black capfules, prominent as in the reft of the genus. On 
touching the ripe capfules, they burft, and throw out 
with great elaflic force their minute feeds fo as to refemble 
fmoke, at the fame time emitting a liquor, with which 
the difc is difcovered to be w'et on removing the finger. 
The fubftance is flefhy; the colour conftant : itwasfound 
in the beginning of November, growing in vaft numbers on 
damaged fir planks, taken out of a common few'er, where 
they had been expofed to the water running from privies. 
2. Afcobolus furfuraceus, the branny afcobolus: fize 
and colour variable. A very common fpecies, growing 
throughout the year among cow-dung in the meadows and 
woods; it is more rarely found in fummer among human 
dung. 
3. Afcobolus carneus, the flefhy afcobolus: this fpecies 
is very clearly diftinguifhed ; it is difciform, convex-plane, 
or quite plane, fmooth, of a dilute-wine or flefti colour 5 
margin fcarcely any; feed-capfules numerous, fomewhat 
prominent, and black after the manner of the genus. It 
is femipellucid, and about a line in breadth. Found on a 
dungheap in the garden of Herrnhut, on the firft of June. 
3 U 4. Afcobolus 
