Asparagus tenuifolius

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

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view 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]

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 769 meters (0 to 2,523 feet).[2]

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Lam. Publication : Encycl. (Lamarck) 1(1): 294 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

• Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 91.
• Flora of the U.S.S.R. [Springfield, Va.: Israel Program for Scientific Translations; 1968- url , p. 325.
• Handbook of hardy trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Based on the French work of Messrs. Decaisne and Naudin entitled 'Manuel de l'amateur des jardins, ' and including the original woodcuts by Riocreux and Leblanc. By W. B. Hemsley. With an introduction by Edward S. Rand, junr. With nearly 300 illustrations. Boston, Estes & Lauriat, 1873. url .
• 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. 26, p. 70.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 474.
• Polskie pismo entomologiczne = Polish journal of entomology = Bulletin entomologique de Pologne Warszawa [etc.]Panstwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. url p. 33.
• Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation with indications of their native countries and some of their uses / by Baron Ferd. von Mueller. Melbourne: R. S. Brain, govt. printer, 1895. url p. 60, p. 613, p. 55, p. 554.
• The English flower garden and home grounds: design and arrangement followed by a description of the plants, shrubs and trees for the open-air garden and their culture / by W. Robinson. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921. url p. 354.
• The English rock-garden, by Reginald Farrer. London, Jack, 1919. url p. 118.
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url , p. 21, p. 316, p. 34, p. 70.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 656.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 184.
• The flora of the Alps being a description of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to Switzerland; and of the Alpine species of the adjacent mountain districts of France, Italy, & Austria including the Pyrenees / by Alfred W. Bennett. London: J.C. Nimmo, 1896. url p. 150.
• The flora of the Alps; being a description of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to Switzerland; and of the alpine species of the adjacent mountain districts of France, Italy, & Austria including the Pyrenees, by Alfred W. Bennett. London, J. C. Nimmo, 1896-1900. url p. 256.
• The natural history of Pliny. London, H. G. Bohn, 1855-57. url p. 245.
• The natural history of Pliny. Tr., with copious notes and illustrations, by the late John Bostock and H. T. Riley. London, H. G. Bohn, 1855-57. url p. 245.
• The parks and gardens of Paris, considered in relation to the wants of other cities and of the public and private gardens; being notes on a study of Paris gardens. London, Macmillan and co., 1878. url .
• The parks, promenades, & gardens of Paris, described and considered in relation to the wants of our own cities, and the public and private gardens. London, J. Murray.1869. url .
• The survey of western Palestine. The fauna and flora of Palestine, by H. B. Tristram. London, The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1884. url p. 434.
• Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 2nd series: Botany 5 1896 London. url p. 212, p. 213.
• 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 January 21, 2008:

• Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Observations du Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien.
• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• GBIF-Spain, Institut Botanic de Barcelona, BC
• Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5861685
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-275331
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14390555
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 531354-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 875691

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. Mean = 264.550 meters (867.946 feet), Standard Deviation = 179.200 based on 31 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.