Edible Species

Asparagus officinalis.--While the young sprouts of a few other species

may be used as food, this is the only one which has found a permanent

place in cultivation. It is a branching, herbaceous plant, reaching a

hight of from three to seven feet; the filiform branchlets, three to

seven inches long, less than one-quarter inch thick, are mostly

clustered in the axils of minute scales. The rootstock, or "crown," is

perennial, and makes a new growth each year of from one to three inches,

extending horizontally, and generally in a straight line. It may

propagate from both ends, or from only one, but in either case the older

part of root stalk becomes unproductive and finally dies. Fig. 7 shows

the new portion of the rootstock crowned with buds for the production of

new shoots, while the older portion bears the scars and dead scales of

previous growths. From the sides and the lower part of the rootstock

numerous cylindrical, fleshy roots start and extend several feet

horizontally, but do not penetrate the soil deeply. In the course of

time the older roots become hollow and inactive without becoming

detached from the rootstock. The young root formation always takes place

a little above the old roots, which circumstance explains why the

asparagus plants gradually rise above the original level, thus

necessitating the annual hilling up or the covering of the crowns with

additional soil.












The asparagus flowers are mostly solitary at the nodes, of

greenish-yellow color, drooping or filiform, jointed peduncles;

perianth, six-parted, campanulate, as seen in Fig. 8. Anthers, introrse;

style, short; stigma, three-lobed; berry, red, spherical, three-celled;

cells, two-seeded. While the flowers are generally dioecious--staminate

and pistillate flowers being borne on different plants--there appear

also hermaphrodite flowers, having both pistils and fully developed

stamens in the same flower. Fig. 9 shows a pistillate, Fig. 10 a

staminate, and Fig. 11 a hermaphrodite or bisexual flower.



In one case, at least, the author has also observed that a plant which

has been barren of seed at first changed into a seed-bearing plant the

following year. Similar changes in the sexuality of strawberries have

been observed under certain conditions. These facts may explain, in a

measure, the difficulty experienced in raising permanently sterile

asparagus plants.



Asparagus acutifolius.--A native of Southern Europe and Northern

Africa. It has a fleshy rootstock, hard, wiry, brown stems, five to

seven feet high, with rigid branches three to six inches long, thickly

closed, with tufts of gray-green, hair-like, rigid leaves, which in

exposed situations are almost spinous. Flowers yellow, a quarter of an

inch in diameter, fragrant. The young sprouts are tender, and, when

cooked, of a peculiar aromatic flavor. In their native home they are

used like the cultivated kind.



A. aphyllus.--Indigenous to Greece, where the young shoots are

commonly used as food, especially during Lent.