Asphodeline lutea

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{redirect|King's spear|other plants in the Asphodeline genus|Asphodeline}}

{{speciesbox

|image = Asphodeline lutea0.jpg

|taxon = Asphodeline lutea

|authority = (L.) Rchb.{{cite POWO |title=Asphodeline lutea (L.) Rchb. |id=531414-1 |access-date=24 March 2025}}

|synonyms =

  • Asphodelus luteus {{small|L.}}

|synonyms_ref =

}}

File:Asphodeline lutea 001.JPG

File:Asphodeline lutea MHNT.BOT.2015.34.65.jpg]]

Asphodeline lutea (king's spear, yellow asphodel) is a perennial plant native to southeastern Europe, northern Africa, the Caucasus and the Levant. It is grown as a landscaping plant.{{cite web|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/c791/asphodeline-lutea.aspx|title=Asphodeline lutea|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|access-date=4 September 2012}}

It has been associated with the Asphodel of the Ancient Greek underworld,[https://books.google.com/books?id=dDw7sdhIdlEC&pg=PA327 Robert Graves. The Common Asphodel 1949] but so has the closely related Asphodelus ramosus.

Description

Asphodeline lutea reaches {{cvt|3|to|4|ft|m|1}} tall and {{cvt|1|to|2|ft|m|1}} wide. The grey-green leaves are {{cvt|1|ft|m|1}} tall, with the flower stalk growing {{cvt|3|to|4|ft|m|1}} bearing a dense raceme of {{convert|1|in|cm|abbr=on}} bright yellow flowers.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/asphodeline-lutea |title=Asphodeline lutea |work=Botanic Garden |publisher=University of Oxford |accessdate=4 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413150228/http://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/asphodeline-lutea |archivedate=13 April 2015 }}

References

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