asphodel

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asphodel

asphodel , name for plants of several genera of the family Lilaceae ( lily family). The true asphodels belong to two small and very similar genera ( Asphodelus and Asphodeline ) of the Mediterranean region and India. The showy flower spike of the former is usually white; of the latter, yellow. Both are stemless, hardy herbs. The asphodel (or king's spear) of the ancients, sacred to Persephone and associated with the fields of the dead, was Asphodeline lutea; the asphodel of the early French and English poets was a narcissus. The false asphodel is Tofieldia, represented in North America by T. glutinosa and a few other species. The turkeybeard ( Xerophyllum asphodeloides ) of the Atlantic coastal plains is also called mountain asphodel. Asphodels are classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Liliopsida, order Liliales, family Liliaceae.

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asphodel

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

asphodel an everlasting flower said to grow in the Elysian fields. The name is recorded from late Middle English and comes via Latin from the Greek base of daffodil.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (November 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-asphodel.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved November 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-asphodel.html

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	Asphodels.(poem) Magazine article from: Poetry; 10/1/1998
	The good news of poetry.(COMMENTARY) Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 4/28/2009
	BOOKS RECEIVED.(recently published poetry books)(Bibliography) Magazine article from: Poetry; 8/1/1999

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