h or sting him. It was also
believed that if the root be put on a tooth which aches violently it
causes it to come out without pain. The therapeutic virtues of asparagus
seem to have been held in almost as high esteem by the ancients as those
of ginseng are esteemed by the Chinese to this day.

II

BOTANY

The genus Asparagus belongs to the Lily Family. It comprises about one
hundred and fifty species, and these are spread through the temperate
and tropical regions of the Old World. One-half of these species are
indigenous to South Africa, and it is from this region that the most
ornamental of the greenhouse species have been obtained.

All the species are perennial, with generally fleshy roots or tubers.
The stems are annual in some, perennial in others, most of them being
spiny, climbing shrubs, growing to a length of from five to twenty or
even fifty feet. The true leaves are usually changed into spines, which
are situated at the base of the branches and are often stout and woody.
The false leaves, termed cladodia, are the linear or hair-like organs
which are popularly called leaves; they are in reality modified
branches. These cladodia are nearly always arranged in clusters at
intervals along the branches, and the flowers generally spring from
their axils. They usually fall off the hardy species in winter, and they
are easily affected by unfavorable conditions in all the species. Most
of them flower and fruit freely under cultivation, so that seeds are
available for propagation.

[Illustration: FIG. 2--ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS NANUS]

ORNAMENTAL SPECIES

_A. medeoloides_ (_Myrsiphyllum asparagoides_), popularly known as
Smilax.--For many years this has been, and is yet, one of the most
commonly grown and the most serviceable of the plants used by florists
as "green." It is readily grown from seed in the greenhouse. While a few
other species of asparagus have been close rivals, it is yet unexcelled
for many purposes of floral decorations.

_A. plumosus_ (the plumy asparagus).--A very graceful climbing plant
which for finer decoration has largely taken the place of smilax, its
foliage being finer than that of the most delicate ferns, and will last
for weeks after being cut. The whole plant is of a bright, cheerful
green. Its branches spread horizontally, and branch again in such a
manner as to form a flat, frond-like arrangement, the leaves being very
numerous, in clusters of about a dozen, bright green,