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.

[Illustration: FIG. 9]

[Illustration: FIG. 10]

[Illustration: FIG. 11]

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
sev