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Asphodelaceae
King's Spear
Asphodeline lutea
Royal ancient lineage, classical memory, Greek myth.
- Family
- Asphodelaceae
- Genus
- Asphodeline
- Native to
- Mediterranean
- Bloom season
- Spring, Early-Summer
- Type
- Perennial
- Height
- 60–120 cm (2–4 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained, alkaline
- Water
- Low
- Hardiness
- 6–9
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- King's spear is one of the most ancient garden plants in Western history—it appears in Homer's Odyssey, where the meadows of the underworld are described as overgrown with asphodel.
- The towering yellow flower spikes can reach 4 feet tall, opening from bottom to top over several weeks—each star-shaped flower lasts a single day before being replaced by the one above.
- Greek and Roman tombs were planted with asphodel because the plant was sacred to Persephone, queen of the underworld—the bloom was a literal welcome mat to the dead.
- Theocritus and Hesiod both mentioned asphodel as the food of the dead—and ancient Greek peasants did actually eat the boiled roots as famine food during hard winters.
- Despite its mythological gloom, king's spear is a cheerful garden plant that lights up dry Mediterranean borders with its golden spires—Vita Sackville-West grew them at Sissinghurst as 'morning candles.'
Color meanings
0
royal lineage
1
classical memory
2
ancient grace