Homer tells us that, having crossed the Styx, the shades passed over a long prairie of Asphodel; and Lucian makes old Charon say:--“I know why Mercury keeps us waiting so long. Down here with us there is nothing to be had but Asphodel, and libations and oblations, and that in the midst of mist and darkness: but up in heaven it is all bright and clear, and plenty of ambrosia there, and nectar without stint.” The fine flowers of this plant of the infernal regions produced grains which were believed by the ancients to afford nourishment to the dead. Accordingly we find that the Greeks planted Asphodel and Mallows round graves. The edible roots of the Asphodel were also wont to be laid as offerings in the tombs of the departed, and, according to Hesiod, they served as food for the poor. The Asphodel was held sacred to Bacchus, probably because he visited the infernal regions, and rescued his mother Semele from the kingdom of the departed. Wreaths of the Asphodel were worn by Bacchus, Proserpine, Diana, and Semele. Asphodels were among the flowers forming the couch of Jupiter and Juno, and Milton has named them as put to the same use by Adam and Eve. “Flowers were the couch, Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel, And Hyacinth, earth’s freshest, softest lap.” Dr. Prior says that the Asphodel root was, under the name of _cibo regio_ (food for a king), highly esteemed in the middle ages, but, however improved by cultivation, it is likely to have been troublesome by its diuretic qualities, and has probably on that account gone out of fashion. Rapin, in his poem, refers to the Asphodel as forming an article of food-- “And rising Asphodel forsakes her bed, On whose sweet root our rustic fathers fed.” =ASTER.=--The old English name of the Aster is Star-wort. Rapin says of this flower-- “The Attic star, so named in Grecian use, But called Amellus by the Mantuan Muse In meadows reigns near some cool streamlet’s side, Or marshy vales where winding currents glide. Wreaths of this gilded flower the shepherds twine, When grapes now ripe in clusters load the vine.” The Aster is thus identified with the Amellus, of the Greek and Latin poets, and, according to Virgil, the altars of the gods were often adorned with wreaths of these flowers. In his Fourth Georgic the poet prescribes the root of the Italian Star-wort (_Aster Amellus_) for sickly bees. (See AMELLUS). The leaves of the Attic Star-wort (when burnt) had the reputation of driving away serpents. In Germany, the Star-wort is used by lovers as an oracle, to decide whether their love is returned or not. The person consulting it repeats the words-- “_Er liebt mich von Herzen Mit Schmerzen, Ja--oder Nein._”