... beenused from time immemorial as a medicineFIG. 6—ASPARAGUSSARMENTOSUSA. Broussoneti.—A beautiful hardyperennial climber from the CanaryIslands, growing ten feet high; featheryfoliage and ... diuretica—amixture of asparagus, celery, parsley,holly, and sweet fennel—was a favoritepreparation for use in dropsy and gravel.Among the Greeks and Romans it was oneof the oldest and most valued medicines, and ... and twenty-five feet high, of long, rope-like,intertwining, spinous, fawn-colored stems,some of them fully fifty feet long, and clothed with wiry, woody branches,bearing whorls of leaves from...