Asphodeline lutea explained

Asphodeline lutea (king's spear, yellow asphodel) is a perennial plant native to southeastern Europe, northern Africa, the Caucasus and the Levant.[1] It is grown as a landscaping plant.[2]

It has been associated with the Asphodel of the Ancient Greek underworld,[3] but so has the closely related Asphodelus ramosus.

Description

Asphodeline lutea reaches 3to tall and 1to wide. The grey-green leaves are 1feet tall, with the flower stalk growing 3to bearing a dense raceme of bright 1inches yellow flowers.[2]

History

Asphodeline lutea was introduced into the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in 1648, even though it demonstrated no known uses that are typical of a physic garden (plants grown for medicinal use). One of the curators of the garden at the time, John Parkinson, said the plant was "not... used in Physicke for any purpose." The locals in the Mediterranean who were interviewed by Parkinson said that that plant had "no... propertie appropriate unto it but knavery," with no explanation of the particular knavery of which the plant was guilty. The description in the Botanic Garden used the old name of Asphodelus lutea.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531414-1 Kew Plants of the World Online
  2. Web site: Asphodeline lutea. Missouri Botanical Garden. 4 September 2012.
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=dDw7sdhIdlEC&pg=PA327 Robert Graves. The Common Asphodel 1949
  4. Web site: Asphodeline lutea . Botanic Garden . University of Oxford . 4 September 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150413150228/http://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/asphodeline-lutea . 13 April 2015 .