272 ASP 
To ASPER'SE, v. a. [afpergo, Lat.] Toeenfure, or ca¬ 
lumniate : 
Curb that impetuous tongue, nor rafhly vain, 
And lingly mad, afperfe the fov’reign reign. Pope. 
ASPER'SION,/. lafperfio, Lat.] A fprinkling : 
If thou doft break her virgin knot before 
All fandtimonious ceremonies, 
No fweet afperfions fhall the heav’ns let fall, 
To make this contrail grow. Shahefpeare. 
Calumny ; cenfure.—The fame afperfions of the king, and 
the fame grounds of a rebellion. Dryden. 
AS'PERSKIRCH, a town of Germany, in the arch¬ 
duchy of Aullria, five miles fouth-ealf of Peyrbach. 
AS'PERSTORF, a town of Germany, in the archdu¬ 
chy of Aullria, two miles north-eaft of Sonneberg. 
ASPERU'GO,y. \_ab ajperitate ; from its roughnefs, a 
quality common to it with (everal other genera appertain¬ 
ing to the fame natural order; and from which all thefe 
plants are called afpcrifoliae .] In botany, a genus of the 
pentandria monogynia clafs, ranking in the natural order 
of afp'erifoliae. The generic charadlers are—Calyx : pe- 
rianthium one-leafed, five-cleft, erecl with unequal tooth- 
lets, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-lhaped ; 
tube cylindrical, very fliort; border femiquinquefid, ob- 
tule, fmall; throat clofed, with five convex, prominent, 
converging, little fcales. Stamina: filaments five, in the 
•throat, very fliort; antherae oblongifli, covered. Piftil- 
lum : germs four, comprelfed; llyle filiform, fliort; ftig- 
ina obtufe. Pericarpium: none; calyx very large, erect, 
coniprefled; lamellas flat-parallel, flnuate. Seeds: four, 
oblong, coniprefled, difiant by pairs.— EJfential Character. 
Calyx of the fruit comprelfed ; lamellas flat-parallel, ii- 
tiuated. 
Species, i. Afperugo procumbens, or procumbent af- 
perugo : calyxes of the fruit coniprefled. Root annual. 
When the plant is young, the flowers are crowded on the 
top of the (talks; when old, they are Angle from the ax- 
illas, on very fliort peduncles. Calyx of the fruit appears 
very different from that of the flower, as if compofed of 
two diftinil valves, though in reality of one leaf. Fruits 
on fliort peduncles, bowed down in a diredtion oppofite to 
that of the leaves. It is found in roads and among rub- 
bilh, at Newmarket, Boxley in Suflex, Holy Illund, and 
near Purfleet. Flowers in April and May. Horfes, goats, 
flieep, and lvvine, eat it; but cows are not fond of it. It 
is called by our old Englifli writers, fmall wild buglofs or 
borage, great goofe-grafs, or German madwort. 
2. Afperugo iEgyptiaca, or Egyptian afperugo : calyxes 
of the fruit (welling. Root annual, columnar, the thick- 
nefs of a quill, red. Stem half a foot high or more, branch¬ 
ed from the bottom. Flowers void of (cent, all diredted 
the fame way, coming out fucceflively on thick peduncles 
on the branches produced. Native of Egypt, and flowers 
from June to Augufl. 
Propagation and Culture. The common fort may eafily 
be propagated by feeds fown in autumn ; or, if they be 
permitted to fcatter, the plants will come up of thenifelves. 
The Egyptian fort may alio be railed from feeds, but they 
jnuft be fown in a moderate hot-bed. The plants will 
flower in the open air in fuminer, but they muft be houfed 
in winter. 
ASPE'RULA,/! \_afpex, Lat. rough ; the feeds being 
roughifh.] In botany, a genus of the tetrandria monogy¬ 
nia clafs, in the natural order of flellatae. The generic 
characters are—Calyx : perianthium fmall, four-toothed, 
fuperior. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-flutped; tube 
cylindric, long; border four-parted; divifions oblong, ob- 
tufe, reflex. Stamina: filaments four, at the top of the 
tube; antherae Ample, Piflillum : germ twin, roundifh, 
inferior; flyle filiform, bifid at top; lligrnas headed. Pe¬ 
ricarpium: two dry globular united berries. Seed: foli- 
tary, roundiflt, large.— EJJ'ential Character. Calyx one-pe- 
ta.lled, funnel-lhaped; leeds two, globular. 
ASP 
Species, i. Afperukuodorata, or fweet-feented wood- 
roof: leaves eight in a whorl, lanceolate ; flowers in bunch¬ 
es, peduncled. Root perennial, (lender, jointed, yellow- 
ifli, creeping a little below the furface, and fending out 
many fmall fibres. Stem upright, about a fhort fpan in 
height, commonly fimple, four-cornered with a groove on 
each fide, fmooth. Leaves fmooth, a little rolled back at 
the (Ides ; the edges and nerves fet with little foft fpines; 
the lower ones obtufe, the upper pointed. Native of ma¬ 
ny parts of Europe, in woods and fhady places; flowering 
in May, fometimes in April. The (cent is pleafant, and 
when dried this plant diffufes an odour like that of vernal- 
grafs (anthoxanthum odoratum). It is faid to give a 
grateful flavour to wine; and, when kept among clothes, 
not only to impart an agreeable perfume to them, but to 
preferve them from infects. Cows, horfes, (heep, and 
goats, are reported to eat it. Since it contains an acid 
principle, with much fixed alkaline fait, it is thought by 
fome that it may be ufeful in obftruilions of the liver and 
biliary dudts ; modern praitice however rejects it. The 
Englifli name is not derived from any foreign language, 
and the orthography of it is various. It feems at firfl, 
that the names are derived from the place of growth, and 
the roughnefs of the feeds ; but the learned Turner has 
given us another and more probable derivation, in thefe 
words: “ It is a fliort Iierbe of a fpan long, fourfquare 
and final, about the which growe certaine orders of leaves, 
certayne fpaces goynge betwene, reprefenting fome kindes 
of rowdies of fporres, whereof it hath the name in Eng¬ 
lifli.” The corruption from woodrowel to woodroof through 
woodrowe is eafy. 
2. Afperula arvenfis, or blue or field woodroof: leaves 
fix in a whorl, flowers feffile terminal aggregate. Root 
annual, (lender, with a yellow bark. Stem upright, a foot 
high. It flowers in July. Native of France, Germany, 
Switzerland, Aullria, Carniola, Savoy, Piedmont. The 
roots dye a fine red. 
3. Afperula taurina, or broad-leaved woodroof: leaves 
four in a whorl, ovate-lanceolate; flowers in terminal 
bunches. Roots perennial, woody, red, branching, inter¬ 
twined. Steths upright, a foot high, with alternate branch¬ 
es. Leaves a little hairy, with nerves like plantain. It is 
a native of mountains of Switzerland, Italy, &c. and flow¬ 
ers from April to June. 
4. Afperula craflifolia, or thick-leaved woodroof: leaves 
four in a whorl, oblong, lateral, revolute, bluntifh, pu- 
befeent. Native of Crete and the Levant, and flowers in 
June. 
5. Afperula Calabrica, or Calabrian woodroof: leaves 
four in a whorl, oblong, obtufe, fmooth, and even. This 
is an underlhrub, about a cubit high, proflrate, and ex¬ 
tremely fetid in all its parts. Stem branched, diffufed, 
fomewhat woody, with an afh-coloured bark; branches op- 
polite, fpreading, procumbent, round, fomewhat rugged, 
red. It refembles the foregoing fpecies, but is fmooth. 
Native of Syria between Aleppo and Antioch, Calabria, 
and Sicily. It flowers during moft of t}>e fummer, and 
fome part of the autumn. The llirubby flalks, leaves in 
pairs, and fetid fmell, fufficiently diftingnilh this fpecies. 
6. Afperula tinftoria, or narrow-leaved woodroof: leaves 
linear, (the lower fix, the middle four, in a whorl;) Hem 
flaccid ; moft of the flowers trifid. The whole plant is 
green and fmooth The roots are ufed in Gothland inftead 
of madder, for dying wool of a red colour. Native of 
Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, France, Carniola, Siberia. 
7. Afperula Pyrenaica, or Pyrenean woodroof: leaves 
four in a whorl, lanceolate-linear, ftem ereif, flowers gene¬ 
rally trlfid. Roots perennial. Stems fix or (even inches 
high. Flowers red. Native of the Pyrenees, and about Bal'd. 
8. Afperula cynanchica, or fquinancy-wort: leaves four 
in a whorl linear, the upper ones oppofite; ftem ereil; 
flowers quadrifid. Roots perennial. Stems from four Inch¬ 
es to a foot and a half in length, proflrate, hard, numerous, 
branching dichotomouily. Leaves generally in fours, rare¬ 
ly five in a whorl, very unequal in length, commonly two 
1 longer 
