Asperula

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Asperula >

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Read about Asperula in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Asperula (roughish; referring to Lvs.). Rubiaceae. Woodruff. Mostly dwarf hardy herbs, for borders, rock gardens and shady places. Annual or perennial: sts. square: Lvs. whorled (some of the Lvs. are really stipules): fls. many, small, mostly 4-parted, produced freely from May to July; corolla funnelform, which distinguishes it from the closely related Galium in which the corolla is rotate.—About 80 species in Eu., Asia and Austral. The commonest species is A. odorata, the Waldmeister of the Germans, which is used in their Mai- trank, or May wine, and in summer drinks. The dried leaves have a hay-like fragrance, lasting for years, and are often kept with clothes. The plant occasionally escapes from gardens. A. hexaphylia, with its delicate, misty spray, is used with sweet peas and other cut- flowers that are inclined to look lumpy. Other plants for this purpose are Gypsophila paniculata, Statice latifolia, and several galiums, all of which have small, abundant flowers in loose panicles on long, slender stems. In half-shaded and moist soil, asperulas grow very luxuriantly until late fall. In dry and sunny places they soon become stunted, and die down before the season is over. Propagation is by division and by seeds. A. cynanchina. Linn. 9-12 in., glabrous: fls. corymbose on erect peduncles: Lvs. 4 to a whorl. Eu. and Asia.—-A. Longiflora, Waldst. 6-8 in., weak, glabrous: fls. white, yellowish inside: Lvs. 4 to a whorl, linear-lanceolate. Eu.—A. taurina. Linn. 1 ft., erect, smooth: infl. in fasciculately umbelled corymbs, white: Lvs. 3-nerved, ciliate, 4 to a whorl. Perhaps not hardy N. S. Eu. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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