Asphodelus

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Asphodelus >

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Read about Asphodelus in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Asphodelus (Greek name of unknown origin). Liliaceae. Asphodel. Hardy herbaceous stemless plants, with white, lily-like fls. in long racemes, fleshy fascicled roots, and firm, linear, radical, tufted Lvs.: perianth funnel-shaped; segms. 6, oblong-ligulate, obtuse, equal, with a distinct nerve on the back, and always ascending.—Probably a half-dozen species in Medit. region and India. The asphodel of the ancients, or king's spear, is Asphodeline lutea, which see. Homer mentions the asphodel meadows of the dead, where the shades of heroes congregated in Hades. The asphodel in Greek mythology was the peculiar flower of the dead. It has always been a common weed in Greece, and its pallid yellow flowers are associated with desert places and tombs. The word daffodil is a corruption of asphodel. The asphodel of the early English and French poets is Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus. J. G. Baker, in his revision of the genus in Jour. Linn. Soc. 15:268-272 (1877), refers forty species of other botanists to A. ramosus, the dominant type, of which he makes three subspecies. Those subspecies are here kept distinct, for horticultural purposes, as good species. They are the ones first described below. A. ramosus and A. albus are among the few current trade names in America. Culture simple; see Asphodeline. A. creticus-Asphodeline liburnica.—A. luteus-A9phodelme lutea.—A. Villarsii, Verl., is a form of A. ramosus. from E. France, with long, dense racemes and dark brown bracts. 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 It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article.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

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