ASPARAGUS. 
inner petals reflected at the end; berry three-celled, 
two-feeded. 
Dcfcription. The genus of afparagus is allied to con- 
vallaria, as may eaftly be feen, if we have recourfe to 
thole fpecies which have lanceolate leaves, for thefe ap¬ 
proach very near to convallaria racemofa. It may how¬ 
ever readily be diftinguifhed by the general appearance of 
the fpecies. The Item is commonly branched, in fome 
herbaceous, in others (Tirubby. The leaves in general are 
linear or briftle-fhaped, and produced in bundles. The 
flowers ufually folitary and axillary. There is a two- 
valved fpathe, and fometimes a fpine, under each twig and 
bundle of leaves. The corolla is hexapetalous, but doled 
in form of a campanulate flower, as it it were monopeta- 
lous. Some of the fpecies are prickly, and others not. 
Some alio are dioecous, or have male and female flowers 
on dtftind individuals. 
Species, i. Afparagus officinalis, or common afparagus 
orfperage: Item herbaceous round erect, leaves fetaceous, 
ftipules alike. Root perennial, large, compofed of many 
fucculent round bulbs, forming a kind of tranfverle tuber, 
whence fpring numerous Items, which are round, Imooth, 
green, ftiff, branched, in the wild plant a toot and half 
high or more, but in the garden plant much higher ; 
branches alternate, thinly fubdivided into alternate twigs, 
with a few leaves between them : at their bafe is a Angle 
ftipule, which is membranaceous, brownilh, triangular- 
ovate, tapering to a point, the bafe alfo running down into 
a pointed prominence; there is alfo a ftipule at the bafe 
of each bundle of leaves, which is cordate-ovate, pointed, 
ragged at the edge and often cracking at the (ides, its bafe 
inclofing the whole bundle. Linnaeus mentions two fmaller 
ftipules within this. Leaves three, four, or five, in a bun¬ 
dle, fometimes from ten to thirteen, according to fome, 
of different fixes, linear or briftle-fhaped, green with a 
white point, fmooth, four or five lines in length. Pe¬ 
duncles axillary, pendulous, folitary or two together, one- 
flowered, fometimes two-flowered ; they have a tubercle 
or joint above the middle, and are protected at the bafe 
by the ftipule of the twigs. Corolla yellowifh green. Ber¬ 
ries red, with the remains of the corolla at the bafe. Au¬ 
thors differ much refpeding the fex of the flowers in this 
fpecies. Pollich affirms, that the flowers are always her¬ 
maphrodite, as far as he has obferved ; Leers, on the con¬ 
trary, always remarked male and female flowers on fepa- 
rate plants, both in the wild and garden fort. Hudfon 
obferved male, female, and hermaphrodite, flowers. Ge¬ 
rard, in his Flora Gallo-Provincialis lays that it is dioecous ; 
and Gottan, that it is fo at lead: in the wild varieties. Ac¬ 
cording to Linnaeus, the garden afparagus is certainly not 
fo: with us, however, there are barren and fertile plants. 
Dr. Stokes, who examined the frudification in cultivated 
plants, thus deferibes it. Pollen and feed produced on 
different plants. Flowers of the plants producing pollen 
nearly as large again : ftamens nearly as long as the petals ; 
filaments adhering to the petals for half their length ; an- 
therae oblong, upright, orange; pollen orange ; germ half 
as long as the filaments, and as large as the other at the 
fame ftage of growth; ftyle none. Flowers of the plants 
producing feeds not fo confpicuous, of a greener and 
browner hue ; ftamens not half fo long as the petals, with 
whitilh, membranaceous, barren, antherae, and no pollen. 
Seeds generally two, but fometimes three ; and, according 
to Mr. Hudfon, one in each cell. Miller mentions a va¬ 
riety which grows naturally in Wales, and alfo near Brif- 
tol ; feeds from the illand of Portland have fucceeded in 
the Chelfea garden, by which we are convinced it is a dif¬ 
ferent fpecies from the garden afparagus ; and alfo from 
the wild fort which grows naturally at Gibraltar, and alfo 
nearMontpellier. Mr. Magnol, of Montpellier, was alfo of 
opinion, that it is a different fpecies ; for, he fays, the 
common wild afparagus and this grew near each other in 
the neighbourhood of Montpellier, and the young (hoots 
of the former were fvveet, whereas thofe of the latter were 
bitter. The fame has been confirmed by feveral gentle¬ 
267 
men who have relided many years at Gibraltar and Mi¬ 
norca, where this grows naturally in plenty. 1 here is 
another variety, with a foft fpine at the bafe. The leaves 
are briftle ftiapcd at the top ; the branches are angular 
and llreaked, whereas in the garden afparagus they arc 
round and fmooth. According to Monf. Villars, the wild 
differs from the cultivated afparagus, in having the leaves 
much finer, and (landing out wide from the twig; in being 
fliorter, ftraighter, and of a higher green. Situation may 
very well produee thefe differences. 
Mr. Miller is of opinion, that the common afparagus, 
which is cultivated for the ufe of the table, may have pro¬ 
bably been brought by culture to the perfection it now is, 
from the wild fort, which grows naturally in the fens of 
Lincolnfhire, where the (hoots are no larger than ftraws ; 
but, if fo, it mult have been from very long culture and 
good management; for, a friend of mine, fays lie, pro¬ 
cured fome feeds of the wild fort, which he cultivated 
with great care, in very rich ground, yet could not bring 
the roots to produce (hoots more than half the fize of she 
garden kind, which grew on the fame ground; but he al¬ 
ways found the wild fort came up a week or ten days ear¬ 
lier in the fpring, and the (hoots were exceeding fweet. 
1 have lately had fome doubt, adds Mr. Miller, whether 
the fort of afparagus which grows naturally in England, 
was the fame with that mentioned by Cafpar Bauhin, be- 
catife Tournefort and Vaillant both affert, that they had 
cultivated that wild fort in the royal garden at Paris feve- 
ral years, and it had never altered, therefore 1 procured 
fpecimens of that, which I find to be extremely different 
from the Englilh fort. The leaves are much finer and 
fhorter, and are produced in much larger clutters ; the 
branches grow much clofer together, and the foot-ftalks 
of the flowers are longer; therefore I believe it to be a 
diftind fpecies from our wild fort, which appears to be 
undoubtedly the fame as the garden afparagus. It is a 
native of mod parts of Europe, and alfo of Japan. With 
us it occurs on many parts of the coaft, as at the Lizard 
point, Harwich, below Briftol, in the i(le of Portland, 
Sec. flowering in July. The young fhoots are generally 
efteemed in the fpring, and are cultivated for the table, 
efpecially near London, in great abundance. According 
to Dr. Withering they are nutritious ; but Lewis on the 
contrary fays, they are fuppofed to promote appetite, but 
afford little nourifhment. What is more certain is, that 
they impart a very ftrong fmell to the urine, in a very 
little time after being eaten, and for this reafon they are 
accounted by fome an ufeful diuretic ; by others however 
they are fuppofed to be injurious to the kidnies. It does 
not appear from common experience that they polfefs either 
of thefe qualities in any confiderable degree. Many have 
an opinion of them for removing obftrudions, indropfical 
and calculous cafes; but their qualities appear to be too 
mild to expect much from them as a medicine: others re¬ 
gard them as bad in gouty habits. The roots are fuppofed 
to be more aperient and diuretic than the young lhoots ; 
but neither the roots, nor the (talks, when grown up fo as 
to part into branches, give any ill fmell to the urine. The 
largenefs and tendernefs of the (hoots are probably the cir- 
cumftances that have brought them into general ufe for 
the table. Pliny mentions, that about Ravenna fome of 
them were fo large, that three weighed a pound. I do 
not recoiled to have heard of any with us, which were 
more than half that weight. Our old Englifh writers call 
it a/paiagus and fperage ; when thefe names were vilely 
corrupted into fparrezvgrafs, and thence fritted dow n into 
grafs, I am unable to fay. In German it is called fpargrl ; 
in Dutch afpngie ; in Danifh ajpargis or a/parris.-, in Swe- 
difti /parts orJpa r gel ; in French afperge commune ; in Ita¬ 
lian Jpart;gio \ in Spanifti afparrago ; in Portuguefe (/par- 
go ; in Ruffian fpar/a or fpar/ck: all evidently from the 
fame origin. 
2. Afparagus declinatus, or long-leaved afparagus: ftem 
unarmed round, branches declined, leaves fetaceous. This 
refembles the common fort, but is higher; it has mot e 
leaves,. 
