Asparagus crispus

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

Interesting Facts

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]

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Lam. Publication : Encycl. (Lamarck) 1(1): 295 1783 [2 Dec 1783]

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

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Further Reading

• Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington: G.P.O., 1901-1913. url p. 15, p. 182, p. 99.
• Dictionary of the common names of plants with list of foreign plants cultivated in the open / by Rudolf Marloth. Cape Town: Specialty Press of South Africa, 1917. url p. 52, p. 75.
• Florists' review Chicago: Florists' Pub. Co. url .
• 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.
• Johnson's Gardeners' dictionary and cultural instructor. London, A. T. De La Mare printing and publishing co., ltd.[1916] url p. 75.
• Meehans' monthly: a magazine of horticulture, botany and kindred subjects / conducted by Thomas Meehan. Philadelphia: Thomas Meehan & Sons, 1891-1902. url p. 13.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 474.
• Seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1903-1913. url p. 15, p. 36.
• Standardized plant names; a catalogue of approved scientific and common names of plants in American commerce. Salem, Mass., 1923. url p. 22.
• The American florist: a weekly journal for the trade. Chicago: American Florist Company, [1885-1931] url p. 69.
• The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general. New York, N.Y.: [A.T. De la Mare Ptg. and Pub. Co., url p. 510.
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url p. 390, p. 439.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url , p. 122, p. 178, p. 226, p. 48, p. 82.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 14 1875 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 611.
• The standard cyclopedia of horticulture; a discussion, for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States a Illustrated with colored plates, four thousand engravings in the text, and ninety-six full-page cuts. New York, Macmillan, 1919 [c1914] url p. 1476, p. 408, p. 409.
• Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 14 1904 Cape Town, : The Society. url p. 338.
• Vines and how to grow them: a manual of climbing plants for flower, foliage and fruit effects, both ornamental and useful, including those shrubs and similar forms that may be used as vines / Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, [c1911] url .
• Vines and how to grow them; a manual of climbing plants for flower, foliage and fruit effects, both ornamental and useful, including those shrubs and similar forms that may be used as vines. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & company, 1911. url p. 305.
• 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.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5824785
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15077907
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531058-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 531057-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 875649

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]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.