Asparagus falcatus

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Genus Asparagus

Herbs, shrubs , or vines , perennial , from rhizomes, usually with fusiform tubers, often with fernlike appearance . Stems photosynthetic, erect , spreading or climbing , branched; cladophylls solitary or fasciculate, in nodes of reduced, scarious leaves. Leaves small, scale-like, membranous, or sometimes spiny with hardened base , subtending cladophylls. Inflorescences axillary or terminal , racemose, or umbellate , paired or solitary; racemes short. Flowers bisexual or unisexual ; perianth greenish, white, or yellowish, campanulate to rotate; tepals 6, distinct or shortly connate basally, equal; stamens 6, distinct, equal; anthers versatile, 2-locular, dehiscence introrse ; ovary superior, 3-locular, septal nectaries present; style 3-branched distally; pedicel with conspicuous joint . Fruits baccate , red or purplish black, globose , often with tepals persisting at base. Seeds 1-6, black, globose to angular. x = 10.

Species 170-300: introduced ; Europe, Asia, Africa; some widely introduced, expected elsewhere.

Asparagus is a moderately important horticultural genus, with one species commonly grown for its edible young shoots and a number of others grown ornamentally. The genus is treated here in a broad sense (K . Kubitzki and P. J. Rudall 1998; W. S. Judd 2001) and encompasses species that have been segregated in several genera (A. L. Takhtajan 1997; S. T. Malcomber and Sebsebe D. 1993). Embryological features (P. J. Rudall et al. 1998) and DNA-based analyses (M. W. Chase et al. 1996; M. F. Fay et al. 2000; P. J. Rudall et al. 1997) support the monophyly of Asparagus and the Asparagaceae.[1]

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 270 meters (885 feet).[2]

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

Growth

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Benth. Publication : London J. Bot. 1: 493 1842

Similar Species

Members of the genus Asparagus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 52 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. acerosus (Wild Asparagus) · A. acutifolius (Lesser Asparagus) · A. africanus (African Asparagus) · A. aphyllus (Israel Wild Asparagus) · A. asparagoides (African Asparagus Fern) · A. declinatus (Bridal Veil) · A. densiflorus (Asparagus Fern) · A. densiflorus 'Meyersii' (Meyersii Foxtail Fern Asparagus Densiflorus) · A. densiflorus 'Myersii' (Myer's Foxtail Fern) · A. densiflorus 'Sprengeri Compacta' (Compact Sprenger Asparagus Fern) · A. denudatus (Asparagus Fern) · A. draco (Canary Island Dragon Tree) · A. falcatus (Asparagus Fern) · A. filicinus (Fern Asparagus) · A. graminifolius (Lilyturf) · A. macowanii (Ming Fern) · A. officinalis officinalis (Asparagus) · A. officinalis prostratus (Wild Asparagus) · A. officinalis 'Ariane' (Asparagus 'ariane') · A. officinalis 'Bejo 2241' (Asparagus 'bejo 2241') · A. officinalis 'Bejo 2245' (Asparagus 'bejo 2245') · A. officinalis 'Millenium' (Asparagus) · A. officinalis 'Raffaelo' (Asparagus 'raffaelo') · A. officinalis 'Ramires' (Asparagus 'ramires') · A. pyramidalis (Asparagus Fern) · A. racemosus (Indian Asparagus) · A. scandens (Climbing Asparagus) · A. setaceus (Asparagus Fern) · A. tenuifolius (Narrow-Leaved Asparagus) · A. terminalis (Chinese Colli) · A. verticillatus (Climbing Asparagus) · A. virgatus (Broom Fern) · A. 'Apollo' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Atlas' (Asparagus) · A. 'Connover's Colossal' (Asparagus) · A. 'Dariana' (Asparagus) · A. 'French Market' (Asparagus) · A. 'Golia' (Asparagus) · A. 'Grande' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Ida Lea' (Asparagus) · A. 'Jersey Gem' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Jersey Giant' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Jersey King' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Jersey Knight' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Jersey Supreme' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Marte' (Asparagus) · A. 'Martha Washington' (Hybrid Asparagus) · A. 'Mary Washington' (Mary Washington Hybrid Asparagus Asparagus) · A. 'Precoce D'argenteuil' (Asparagus) · A. 'Purple Passion' (Asparagus) · A. 'Theilim' (Asparagus) · A. 'Uc 157' (Hybrid Asparagus)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A dictionary of English names of plants applied in England and among English-speaking people to cultivated and wild plants, trees, and shrubs, by William Miller; in two parts, English-Latin and Latin-English. London, J. Murray, 1884. url p. 164.
• A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon: containing descriptions of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their history, distribution, and uses: with an atlas of plates illustrating some of the more inte by Henry Trimen. London: Dulau, 1893-1931. url p. 285.
• A handbook of tropical gardening and planting, with special reference to Ceylon, by H. F. Macmillan. .. Colombo, H.W. Cave & co., 1914. url p. 574, p. 595.
• A record of plants collected in Southern Rhodesia; arramged on Engler's system. Compiled by Fred. Eyles. Cape Town, 1916 url p. 325.
• A systematic catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns indigenous to or growing wild in Ceylon. Colombo: G. J. A. Skeen, 1885. url .
• Asparagus: its culture for home use and for market: a practical treatise on the planting, cultivation, harvesting, marketing, and preserving of asparagus, with notes on its history and botany / by F.M. Hexamer. New York: Orange Judd, 1901. url p. 8, p. 8.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1918 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 191, p. 75.
• Climbing plants, by William Watson; with introduction by W. Robinson. London [etc.]T. C. & E. C. Jack[1915] url p. 80.
• Flora Hongkongensis; a description of the flowering plants and ferns of the island of Hongkong. LondonL. Reeve1861 url p. 371.
• Florists' review Chicago: Florists' Pub. Co. url , .
• Greenhouse and stove plants, flowering and fine-leaved, palms, ferns, and lycopodiums, with full details of the propagation and cultivation of 500 families of plants: embracing all the best kinds in cultivation, suitable for growing in the greenhouse, intermediate house, and stove / by Thomas Baines. London: J. Murray, 1894. url p. 54.
• Hand-list of tender momocotyledons, excluding Orchideae, cultivated in the Royal Gardens, Kew. London, Printed for H. M. S. O., by Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1897. url p. 181.
• Hand-list of tender monocotyledons, excluding Orchideae, cultivated in the Royal Gardens, Kew. 1897. LondonPrinted for H.M. Stationery Off. by Eyre and Spottiswoode1897 url p. 181.
• Hooker's journal of botany and Kew Garden miscellany. 7 1855 London: Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, 1849-1857. url p. 39.
• Hooker, W. J. et al. Niger flora;or, An enumeration of the plants of western tropical Africa, collected by the late Dr. Theodore Vogel, botanist to the voyage of the expedition sent by Her Britannic Majesty to the river Niger in 1841, under the command of Capt. H. D. Trotter, R.N., &c.; including Spicilegia gorgonea, by P. B. Webb, esq., and Flora nigritiana, by Dr. J. D. Hooker. .. and George Bentham, esq. with a sketch of the life of Dr. Vogel. Ed. by Sir W. J. Hooker. .. With two views, a map, and fifty plates. 1849 London, H. Bailliere; [etc., etc.] 1849. url p. 540.
• Horticulture. Boston, Mass.: Horticulture Pub. Co., c1904- url p. 514.
• Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1914-1924. url p. 84.
• List of intercepted plant pests / United States Department of Agriculture, Plant Quarantine and Control Administration. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.], 1932- url p. 8.
• Niger flora; or, An enumeration of the plants of western tropical Africa, collected by the late Dr. Theodore Vogel, botanist to the voyage of the expedition sent by Her Britannic Majesty to the river Niger in 1841, under the command of Capt. H. D. Trotter, R.N., &c.; includ London, H. Bailliere; [etc., etc.]1849. url p. 540.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 213, p. 474.
• Seemann, B. The botany of the voyage of H.M.S. Herald: under the command of Captain Henry Kellett, R.N., C.B., during the years 1845-51 /by Berthold Seemann. 1852-1857 London: Lovell Reeve, 1852-1857. url p. 437.
• South African journal of science. [Marshalltown, Transvaal: South African Association for the Advancement of Science, url p. 351.
• The Coccidae of Ceylon. By E. Ernest Green. .. London, Dulau & Co., ltd., 1896-1922. url p. 230.
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url p. 178, p. 2, p. 222, p. 363, p. 549.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url , , , p. 173, p. 250, p. 647, p. 679, p. 711, p. 73, p. 81, p. 82.
• The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay: The Society, url p. 305.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 36 1903-05 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 102, p. 138, p. 472.
• The Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany. London, John van Voorst, 1844-56. url p. 885.
• The Uganda protectorate; an attempt to give some description of the physical geography, botany, zoology, anthropology, languages and history of the territories under British protection in East Central Africa, between the Cong by Sir Harry Johnston. .. With 506 illustrations from drawings and photographs by the author and others, 48 full-page coloured plates by the author and 9 maps by J.G. Bartholomew and the author. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1902. url p. 346.
• The illustrated dictionary of gardening, a practical and scientific encyclopedia of horticulture for gardeners and botanists. Ed. by George Nicholson. Assisted by Professor J. W. H. Trail and J. Garrett. London: L. U. Gill, [1884]-89. url p. 122.
• Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 2nd series: Botany 2 1881-87 London. url p. 351, p. 358.
• Transactions of the Natural History Society of Glasgow. Glasgow, The Society. url p. 283, p. 418.
• Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 18 1907 Cape Town, : The Society. url p. 238.
• Wissenschaftliche ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Africa-Expedition, 1907-1908: unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, herzogs zu Mecklenburg. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1910- url p. 62.
• Cooney-Sovetts, C. and R. Sattler. 1986. Phylloclade development in the Asparagaceae: An example of homoeosis. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94: 327-371.
• Jessop, J. P. 1966. The genus Asparagus in southern Africa. Bothalia 9: 31-96.
• Malcomber, S. T. and Sebsebe D. 1993. The status of Protasparagus and Myrsiphyllum in the Asparagaceae. Kew Bull. 48: 63-78.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 1859742
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-275047
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15077967
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531099-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 531098-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 644665

Footnotes

1. Gerald B. Straley  & Frederick H. Utech "Asparagus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 20, 50, 53, 54, 213. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Standard Deviation = 490.420 based on 29 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.