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Asphodelus (From a not and sphallo)

(from a, not, and sphallo, to supplant; in allusion to the beauty of the flowers). Asphodel. ORD. Liliaceae. Very pretty hardy herbaceous perennials, with fleshy fasciculated roots. Perianth white or yellow, of six equal spreading segments; stamens six, hypogynous, alternately long and short. Leaves usually radical, tufted, narrow, or triquetrous. All the species enumerated thrive in good deep sandy loam, and are very suitable for borders and shrubberies. Propagated by division of the root, which is best done in early spring.

A. aestivus (summer). fl. white. Summer. h. 2ft. Spain, 1820. A. albus (white).* fl. white; peduncles clustered the length of the bracts. May. l. linear, keeled, smooth. Stem naked, simple. h. 2ft. South Europe, 1596.

A. creticus (Cretan).* fl. yellow, July, l. filiform, striated, toothed, ciliated. Stem leafy, naked above, branched h. 2ft. Crete, 1821. A. fistulosus (pipe-stalked). fl. white. July, August, l. upright, striated, subulate, fistular. Stem naked. h. 18in. South Europe, 1596. A. luteus (yellow). A synonym of Asphodeline lutea.

A. ramosus (branchy). fl. large, white, with a reddish-brown line in the middle of each segment, springing from the axils of ovate-lanceolate bracts, and in very long dense racemes. Summer. l. sword-shaped, stiff, sharply keeled below, channelled above. Stem much branched. h. 4ft. to 5ft. South Europe, 1829.

A. Villarsii (Villars') fl. white; raceme dense, elongated; bracts dark brown. Stem simple or rarely branched. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Eastern France.