1113.000 Asparagus L.

MYRSIPHYLLUM Willd.

PROTASPARAGUS Oberm.

Fayaz, F. (2011) Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants Firefly Books, New Zealand

Description of the genus

Perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, usually with short rhizomes, erect or climbing, generally branched with green, flat cladodes in axils. Leaves appressed to stem, not green, scale-like; base spurred, often extending to spines. Inflorescence an axillary cluster, sometimes racemes or umbels, rarely solitary; bracteoles membranous. Perianth campanulate or sub-globose; segments free, occasionally connate at base. Fruit berries. Seeds 1-few.

Comment: Asparagus aethiopicus L. and A. densiflorus (Kunth) Jessop are two additional species listed for Zimbabwe in SABONET Report 33 (Mapaura & Timberlake, 2004: 85-86). This is likely based on misidentified specimens at SRGH since both species are not considered to occur in Zimbabwe by Demissew in Flora Zambesiaca 13(1), 2008.

Worldwide: 130-140 species, in the Old World excluding Australasia

Zimbabwe: 5 cultivated taxa.

No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
asparagoides (L.) DruceDescription, Image
densiflorus (Kunth) JessopImage
falcatus L. var. falcatus Description, Image
officinalis L.
setaceus (Kunth) JessopDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Asparagus:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Asparagus
Flora of Caprivi: Asparagus
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Asparagus
Flora of Malawi: Asparagus
Flora of Mozambique: Asparagus
Flora of Zambia: Asparagus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Asparagus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Asparagus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Asparagus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Asparagus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Asparagus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Asparagus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Asparagus
JSTOR Plant Science: Asparagus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Asparagus
Plants of the World Online: Asparagus
Tropicos: Asparagus
Wikipedia: Asparagus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Asparagus.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=359, retrieved 29 March 2024

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