Asparagus Officinalis

Asparagus is an herbaceous, perennial plant, growing up to 150 centimeters in height. It has stout stems, and much branched, feathery foliage. From an underground stem grow clusters of grasslike leaves (which are actually modified stems). Leaves are glabrous, reduced to small scales on main stem. Flowers are whitish-green, small (6, 5 mm long) and bell-shaped. They are produced singly or in pairs on leaf axils. The fruit is a small red berry 6-10 mm diameter. This well-known table delicacy may be found wild on the sea-coast in the South-west of England, especially near the Lizard, in the Isle of Anglesey, otherwise it is a rare native. In the southern parts of Russia and Poland the waste steppes are covered with this plant, which is there eaten by horses and cattle as grass. It is also common in Greece, and was formerly much esteemed as a vegetable by the Greeks and Romans. It is cultivated in India…