Asparagus officinalis
Asparagus officinalis
| Order | Asparagales |
|---|---|
| Family | Asparagaceae |
| Genus | Asparagus |
2n =
Origin : area of origin
wild or cultivated
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Description
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1, spears from the base; 2, branches with cladodes; 3, flowers; 4, fruits. Source: PROSEA
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white asparagus -
shoots (spears) of green asparagus in the market -
field, mother stalk method -
field in the highlands of Malawi
Popular names
Classification
Cultivars
History
Uses
Asparagus officinalis Linn. ASPARAGUS. Europe, Caucasian regions and Siberia. This plant, so much esteemed in its cultivated state, is a plant of the seashore and river banks of southern Europe and the Crimea. It is now naturalized in many parts of the world. In the southern parts of Russia and Poland, the waste steppes are covered with this plant. Unger [1] says it is not found either wild or cultivated in Greece, but Daubeny [2] says at the present time it is known under the name of asparaggia, and Booth [3] says it is common. Probably the mythological mention of the asparagus thickets which concealed Perigyne, beloved of Theseus,— the plant, in consequence, being protected by law among the lonians inhabiting Caria— referred to another species.
Cultivated asparagus seems to have been unknown to the Greeks of the time of Theophrastus and Disocorides, and the word asparagos seems to have been used for the wild plant of another species. The Romans of the time of Cato, about 200 B. C., knew it well, and Cato's directions for culture would answer fairly well for the gardeners of today, except that he recommends starting with the seed of the wild plant, and this seems good evidence that the wild and the cultivated forms were then of the same type as they are today. Columella [4], in the first century, recommends transplanting the young roots from a seed-bed and devotes some space to their after-treatment. He offers choice of cultivated seed or that from the wild plant, without indicating preference. Pliny [5], who also wrote in the first century, says that asparagus, of all the plants of the garden, receives the most praiseworthy care and also praises the good quality of the kind that grows wild in the island of Nesida near the coast of Campania. In his praise of gardens [6], he says: "Nature has made the asparagus wild, so that any one may gather as found. Behold, the highly-manured asparagus may be seen at Ravenna weighing three pounds." Palladius [7], an author of the third century, rather praises the sweetness of the wild form found growing among the rocks and recommends transplanting it to such places otherwise worthless for agriculture, but he also gives full directions for garden culture with as much care as did Cato. Gesner [8] quotes Pomponius, who lived in the second century, as saying that there are two kinds, the garden and the wild asparagus, and that the wild asparagus is the more pleasant to eat. Suetonius [9], about the beginning of the second century, informs us how partial the Emperor Augustus was to asparagus, and Erasmus [10] also mentions it.
- ↑ Unger, F. U.S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 358. 1859.
- ↑ Daubeny, C. Trees, Shrubs, Anc. 127. 1865.
- ↑ Booth. W. B. Treas. Bot. 1: 101. 1870.
- ↑ Columella lib. 9, c. 3.
- ↑ Bostock and Riley. Nat. Hist. Pliny 4: 188. 1856.
- ↑ Pliny c. 19.
- ↑ Palladius lib. 3, c. 24 ; lib. 4, c. 9.
- ↑ Script. Rei Rust. 1788, Lexicon, art. Asparagus.
- ↑ McIntosh, C. Book Gard. 2: 177. 1855.
- ↑ Ibid.