[Illustration: FIG. 308.--_Smilax pseudosyphilitica_: _A_ shoot of male plant; _C_ ♂-flower; _D_ berry, almost ripe; _E_ the same in longitudinal section. _B Smilax syphilitica_: portion of branch with base of leaf and tendrils.] =B.= ASPARAGEÆ, ASPARAGUS GROUP. Scale-like leaves and green assimilating branches.--_Asparagus_: horizontal rhizome. The aerial shoots are very richly branched; the numerous needle-like bodies upon the plant are _leafless shoots_, which are crowded together in double scorpioid cymes in the axils of the scale-leaves; the two first lateral axes, placed outside to the left and right, generally bear flowers. Polygamous.--~_Ruscus_ (Butcher’s broom) is a S. European _shrub_ with _leaf-like_, ovoid or elliptical shoots (phylloclades) which are borne in the axils of scale-like leaves, and bear flowers on the central line. Diœcious. Stamens 3, united, anthers extrorse. _Semele androgyna_ bears its flowers on the edge of the flat shoot.~ =C.= SMILACEÆ. _Smilax_ (Sarsaparilla) (Fig. 308); _climbing_ shrubs with the leaf-sheath produced into tendrils. The leaves have 3–5 strong nerves proceeding from the base, and are reticulate. Orthotropous or semi-anatropous ovules. Diœcious (Fig. 308 _C_, _E_). =D.= DRACÆNEÆ. Fruit in some a berry, in others a capsule. The stem of DRACÆNA, when old, has the appearance of being dichotomously branched; it has the power of increase in thickness, and may become enormously thick. The Dragon-tree of Teneriffe, measured by Humboldt, attained a circumference of 14 m. and a height of 22 m.; the leaves are large, linear or linear-lanceolate.--_Cordyline_ (East Asia), various species in gardens and greenhouses (_Yucca_ is closely allied). _Astelia._ POLLINATION. _Paris quadrifolia_ and _Convallaria majalis_ have no honey, and are chiefly visited by pollen-collecting bees (in the absence of insect visits self-pollination takes place); _Polygonatum multiflorum_ has honey secreted by septal glands and protected by the base of the tubular perianth; it is pollinated by humble-bees, etc. _Asparagus officinalis_ has small, polygamous, greenish, honey-bearing flowers; the ♂-flower is almost twice as large as the ♀; both have rudiments of the opposite sex. About 555 species; especially from N. America, Europe, and Central Asia. OFFICINAL: “Dragons’-blood,” a red resinous juice from the stem of _Dracæna_ and the roots of some Central American species of _Smilax_. The tuberous stems of the Eastern Asiatic _Smilax glabra_ are officinal. The flowers of _Convallaria majalis_ have been lately used as a substitute for _Digitalis_. Pungent, poisonous properties are possessed by _Paris_. None of the species are used as food, except the young annual shoots of _Asparagus officinalis_, a shore-plant which is used as a vegetable.