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August (L setaceous fasciculate)

l. setaceous, fasciculate, flexible, unarmed. Stem herbaceous, mostly erect, rounded, very much branched. h. 1ft. Said to grow on "Asparagus Island," Kynance Cove, Lizard, but we have never found it there, and it has probably long since been exterminated.

A. plumosus (plumed).* fl. white, small, produced from the tips of the branchlets. Spring. l., true ones in the form of minute deltoid scales, with an acute ultimately reflexed point; the false ones are grouped in tufts, each being 1/8in. to 1/4in. long, bristleshaped, and finely pointed. South Africa, 1876. An elegant evergreen climber, with smooth stems and numerous spreading branches. It forms an excellent plant when trained in pots, and is invaluable for cutting.

A. p. nanus (dwarf).* A very elegant dwarf variety of above. Stems tufted, slender, and gracefully arching. South Africa, 1880. For bouquets, the cut sprays of both type and variety have the advantage of much greater persistency than any fern, retaining their freshness in water from three to four weeks. for which we are indebted to Messrs. Veitch and Sons. A. racemosus (racemose). fl. greenish-white, in many-flowered axillary racemes. May. l. bundled, linear-subulate, falcate; branches striated; prickles solitary. h. 3ft. India, 1808. Green-house evergreen shrub. A. ramosissimus (very branching). fl. solitary, at the tips of the branchlets; pedicels hardly perpendicular, one and a-half to two lines long; cream coloured. June. l. obscurely spurred at the base; false leaves three to eight-nate, flattened; linear-falcate acute, 1/4in. to 3/8in. long, spreading. South Africa, 1862. A wide climbing, copiously branched, slender greenhouse shrub, with very numerous spreading or ascending branches and branchlets. A. scandens (climbing).* fl. whitish, axillary on the ultimate branchlets, succeeded by round orange-coloured berries. The annual, much-branched, unarmed stems bear, usually in threes, numerous small linear-pointed leaves, which on the ultimate branches spread nearly in one plane. Cape of Good Hope, 1795. An elegant climbing greenhouse perennial.

A. virgatus (twiggy).* A remarkably elegant feathery-looking plant, of shrubby habit. The stems, which issue from the crown of the stout fleshy roots, are of a dark green colour, and bear at the upper end a corymbose head of erect branches, of which the lowest is the youngest or most recently developed. These branches are again twice branched, the ultimate branchlets being furnished with needle-shaped false leaves, 1/2in. long, which usually grow in threes. South Africa, 1862.

ASPARAGUS BEETLE (Crioceris asparagi), or "Cross-bearer." This beautiful little insect is blue-black or greenish; the thorax is red with two black spots, and the wing-cases are yellow, with a black cross on them; the legs and antennae are black. The short grey larva is flat underneath, arched on the back, and covered with hairs. The sides are of an olive hue, and the little legs and head are black. It ejects a drop of blackish fluid from the mouth when touched. When full grown, which takes about a fortnight, the larva measures about two lines in length; the average length of the perfect Beetle is about three lines. Although this insect does not actually destroy the plants, it inflicts much damage on the foliage, and checks the growth of the stems after they have attained some size, in consequence of which the foliage becomes much less in the next season. The eggs are fixed to the shoots, and are small, dark, pointed bodies. The larvae do the harm, as they feed on the bark and tender portions of the plants. The mature Beetles should be picked off by hand, and, by commencing early enough in the season, their numbers will be greatly reduced. Syringing the plants with water, heated to a temperature that will not injure the plants, is found a useful method for removing the grubs.

White Hellebore. Freshly-ground White Hellebore, sprinkled over the foliage while it is damp, and repeating the operation at intervals of about eight days for a season, will generally effect a riddance; but the following will usually be found better in such cases. Neither must be applied until after cutting ceases, as they are very poisonous.

Paris Green. This, mixed and used as for Cherry Fly will generally get rid of the Beetle, if applied about thrice each season for two years. It should, however, only be used in severe cases.

Soot, applied in the same manner as White Hellebore, and in liberal quantities, will, in a season or two, clear the beds. If a bushel of salt be mixed with each twenty bushels of soot, it will enhance the effect. ASPARAGUS KNIFE. The Asparagus Knife consists of a strong blade fixed in a handle. There are, or were, three kinds employed: In one form, the blade was blunt on both sides, straight, with a sharp tip, and not unlike a small chisel. Another had its blade slightly hooked, and serrated at one end. But the best is that now almost universally employed, and which is illustrated by Fig. 162.

ASPASIA (from aspazomai, I embrace; the column embraced by the labellum). SYN. Trophianthus. ORD. Orchideae. A genus of elegant, stove, Epidendrum-like, epiphytal Orchids, with the lip united to the column, and broad, thin pseudo-bulbs. The name Aspasia is now and then met with attached to another genus. Salisbury gave it to a liliaceous plant which is now referred to Ornithogalum. For culture and propagation, see Stanhopea. A. epidondroides (Epidendrum-like).* fl. whitish yellow; sepals linear oblong, acute; petals obtuse, concave, lateral lobes of lip roundish, entire, middle lobe crenated emarginate. February. Pseudo-bulbs oblong, two-edged. h. 1ft. Panama, 1833.

A. lunata (crescent-marked).* fl. green, white, and brown, solitary; sepals and petals linear obtuse, spreading; lip three-lobed, lateral lobes short, middle one flat, nearly square, wavy. February. Pseudo-bulbs oblong, two-edged. h. 1ft. Rio Janeiro, 1843.

A. papilionacea (butterfly-like).* fl., sepals and petals yellowish, mottled with brown lines on their internal inferior halves; lip fiddle-shape, its back very great, elliptic, apiculate; an orange-coloured area stands at its base, a wide violet disc before and around it. h. 9in. Costa Rica, 1876. Distinguished from A. lunata in having thirteen keels at the base of the lip, which is higher inserted, and in the echinulate anther. It is a beautiful but rare novelty.

A. psittacina (parrot-like).* fl., sepals and petals light green, with brown transverse bars, which sometimes consist of separate stripes, at other times of confluent ones; the fiddle-shaped lip shows two keels and a few purplish dots over its top; the column is brown at its top, then violet, and white at the base. Ecuador, 1878. It has a raceme of several flowers, usually one-sided, bent over.

A. variegate (variegated).* fl. green, spotted with yellowish red; sepals linear oblong; petals somewhat rhomboid, acute; lateral lobes of lip recurved, middle one fleshy, serrated, February. h. 9in. Panama, 1836. Deliciously sweet-scented in the morning.

ASPERULA (from asper, rough; in allusion to the leaves). Woodruff. ORD. Rubiaceae. Hardy herbs, rarely small shrubs. Flowers terminal and axillary, in fascicles. Leaves opposite, with one, two, or three stipulas on each side; they are therefore called four to eight in a whorl, but between the uppermost leaves there are no stipulas. Stems and branches usually tetragonal. Most of the species are very pretty when in flower, and are, therefore, well adapted for borders, rockwork, and shady places, in almost any garden soil. Propagated by divisions of the roots during spring and early summer. Herbaceous perennials, except where otherwise stated.

A. azurea-setosa (blue-bristly). A synonym of A. orientalis. A. calabrica (Calabrian). A synonym of Putoria calabrica. A. cynanchica (Cynanche-like). fl. on erect branches, forming a fastigiate corymb, white or bluish-coloured, elegantly marked with red lines, or sometimes pure white. Summer. l. four in a whorl; floral ones lanceolate-linear, acuminately awned; lower ones small, oblong, upper ones opposite. Plant glabrous, erectish. h. 9in. to 12in. England. A. hirta (hairy). fl. white at first, changing to pink, with oblong divisions. July and August. l. usually six in a whorl, four towards the upper part, linear, hairy, deep green. h. 3in. Pyrenees, 1817. A charming but rare little alpine, thriving best in a rather damp position on the rockery. A. longiflora (long-flowered).* fl. whitish, yellowish inside, and reddish outside; tube of corolla elongated; fascicles terminal, pedunculate; bracteas small, subulate. Summer. l. four in a whorl, linear; lower ones small, obovate; upper ones opposite. Stems weak, numerous, from the same neck, erectish, glabrous. h. 6in. Hungary, 1821.

A. montana (mountain).* fl., corollas pink, four-cleft, scabrous externally; in fascicles. June, July. l. linear; lower ones six in a whorl; middle ones four; upper ones opposite; floral leaves linear. Stem weak, glabrous. h. 6in. to 8in. Hungary, 1801.

A. odorata (sweet-scented).* Sweet Woodruff. fl. snowy white; corymbs terminal, pedunculate, usually trifid, each division bearing about four flowers. May, June. l. eight in a whorl, lanceolate, smooth, with serrulately scabrous edges. Stems tetragonal, simple, erect, or ascending. h. 6in. to 12in. Britain. This very pretty little plant is scentless when fresh, but, when dried, it diffuses an odour like that of spring grass; and when kept among clothes, it not only imparts an agreeable perfume to them, but preserves them from insects.

A. orientalis (Oriental).* fl. sky-blue, in terminal heads; bracts of involucre shorter than the flowers. Summer. l. lanceolate, bristly, about eight in a whorl. h. 1ft. Caucasus, 1867. A charming little, profuse-blossoming, hardy annual, bearing clusters of fragrant flowers, admirably adapted for bouquet-making. SYN. A. azurea-setosa. A. taurina (bull). fl., corollas white, elongated; corymbs pedunculate, axillary, fasciculately umbellate, involucrated; bracteas ciliated. April to June. l. four in a whorl, ovate-lanceolate, three-nerved, with finely ciliated margins. Plant smoothish, erect. h. 1ft. South Europe. 1739. A. tinctoria (Dyers). fl. white, reddish on the outside; usually trifid. June. l. linear; lower ones six in a whorl; middle ones four; and the uppermost ones opposite; floral leaves ovate. Plant procumbent, unless supported. Stem 1ft. to 2ft. long, purplish. Europe, 1764.