Asphodel Synonyms

The plants generally have a rhizome bearing radical leaves, as in asphodel, rarely a stem with a tuft of leaves as in Aloe, very rarely a tuber (Eriospermum) or bulb (Bowiea).

As a chthonian divinity she is accompanied by a snake; the myrtle, asphodel and narcissus (which Persephone was gathering when carried off by Hades) also are sacred to her.

Asphodelus (asphodel) is a Mediterranean genus; Simethis, a slender herb with grassy radical leaves, is a native of west and southern Europe extending into south Ireland.

In Greek legend the asphodel is the most famous of the plants connected with the dead and the underworld.

The asphodel was also supposed to be a remedy for poisonous snake-bites and a specific against sorcery; it was fatal to mice, but preserved pigs from disease.