The Description.

            1. The first being the manured or garden Sperage, hath at his first rising out of the ground thick tender shoots very soft and brittle, of the thickness of the greatest swan's quill, in taste like unto the green bean, having at the top a certain scaly soft bud, which in time groweth to a branch of the height of two cubits, divided into divers other smaller branches, whereon are set many little leaves like hairs, more fine than the leaves of Dill: among which come forth small mossy yellowish flowers, which yield forth the fruit, green at the first, afterward red as Coral, of the bigness of a small pea; wherein is contained gross blackish seed exceeding hard, which is the cause that it lieth so long in the ground after the sowing, before it do spring up. The roots are many thick soft and spongy strings hanging down from one head, and spread themselves all about, whereby it greatly increaseth.

            2. We have in our marsh and low grounds near unto the sea, a Sperage of this kind, which differeth a little from that of the garden, and yet in kind there is no difference at all, but only in manuring, by which all things or most things are made more beautiful, and larger. This may be called Asparagus palustris, Marsh Sperage.

            3. Stone or Mountain Sperage is one of the wild ones, set forth under the title of Corruda, which Lobel calleth Asparagus petræus; and Galen, Myacanthinus, that doth very well resemble those of the garden, in stalks, roots, and branches, saving that those fine hairy leaves which are in the garden Sperage be soft, blunt, and tender; and in this wild Sperage, sharp hard and pricking thorns, though they be small and slender: the friut hereof is round, of the bigness of a pea, and of a black colour; the roots are long, thick, fat, and very many.

            4. This fourth kind differeth from the last described, being a wild Sperage of Spain and Hungary: the plant is altogether set with sharp thorns (three or four coming forth together) as are the branches of Whins, Gorse, or Furze: the fruit is black when it is ripe, and full of a greenish pulp, wherein lie hard and black seeds, sometimes one, otherwhiles two in a berry; the roots are like the others, but greater and tougher.

            5. Carolus Clusius descriheth also a certain wild Sperage with sharp prickles all alone the stalks, orderly placed at every joint one, hard, stiff, and whitish, the points of the thorns pointing downward: from the which joints also do grow out a few long green leaves fastened together, as also a little yellow flower, and one berry, three-cornered, and of a black colour, wherein is contained one black seed, seldom more: the roots are like the other.

Fig. 1588. Asparagus Thistle (6)

            6. Drypis being likewise a kind hereof, hath long and small roots, creeping in the ground like Couch grass; from which spring up branches a cubit high, full of knotty joints: the leaves are small like unto Juniper, not much differing from Corruda or Nepa: the flowers grow at the top of the stalk in spoky tufts or roundels, of a white colour, closely thrust together: the seed before it be taken out of the husk is like unto Rice; being taken out, like that of Melilot, of a saffron colour.

The Place.

            The first being our garden Asparagus groweth wild in Essex, in a meadow adjoining to a mill, beyond a village called Thorpe; and also at Singleton not far from Carby, and in the meadows near Moulton in Lincolnshire. Likewise it groweth in great plenty near unto Harwich, at a place called Bandamar Lading, and at North Moulton in Holland, a part of Lincolnshire.

            The wild Sperages grow in Portugal and Biscay among stones, one of the which Petrus Bellonius doth make mention to grow in Candy, in his first book Of Singularities, cap. 18.

The Time.

            The bare naked tender shoots of Sperage spring up in April, at what time they are eaten in salads; they flower in June and July; the fruit is ripe in September.

The Names.

            The garden Sperage is called in Greek and Latin likewise Asparagus: in shops, Sparagus, and Speragus: in High Dutch, Spargen: in Low Dutch, Asparges, and Coralcruyt; that is to say, Herba coralli, or Coral-Wort, of the red berries, which bear the colour of Coral: in Spapish, Asparragos: in Italian, Asparago: in English, Sperage, and likewise Asparagus, after the Latin name: in French, Asperges. It is named Asparagus of the excellency, because asparagi, or the springs hereof are preferred before those of other plants whatsoever; for this Latin word Asparagus doth properly signify the first spring or sprout of every plant, especially when it is tender and before it do grow into a hard stalk, as are the buds, tendrils, or young springs of wild Vine or hops, and such like.

            Wild Sperage named in Latin Asparagus sylvestris, and Corruda.

The Temperature.

            The roots of the garden Sperage, and also of the wild, do cleanse without manifest heat and dryness.

 The Virtues.

            A. The first sprouts or naked tender shoots hereof be oftentimes sodden in flesh broth and eaten, or boiled in fair water, and seasoned with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, then are served at men's tables for a salad; they are pleasant to the taste, easily concocted, and gently loose the belly.

            B. They somewhat provoke urine, are good for the kidneys and bladder, but they yield unto the body little nourishment, and the same moist, yet not faulty: they are thought to increase seed, and stir up lust.