View source for Asparagus

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Asparagus
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 313. 1753
|year=1753
}}, {{Treatment/Publication
|title=Gen. Pl. ed.
|place=5, 147. 1754
|year=1754
}}
|common_names=Asparagus-fern;asperge;espárrago
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Liliaceae;Asparagus
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Liliaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Asparagus]]</div></div>
|etymology=Greek asparasso, to rip, alluding to the spiny leaves of some species
|volume=Volume 26
|mention_page=page 20, 50, 53, 54
|treatment_page=page 213
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> shrubs, or vines, perennial, from rhizomes, usually with fusiform tubers, often with fernlike appearance. <b>Stems</b> photosynthetic, erect, spreading or climbing, branched; cladophylls solitary or fasciculate, in nodes of reduced, scarious leaves. <b>Leaves</b> small, scale-like, membranous, or sometimes spiny with hardened base, subtending cladophylls. <b>Inflorescences</b> axillary or terminal, racemose, or umbellate, paired or solitary; racemes short. <b>Flowers</b> 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. <b>Fruits</b> baccate, red or purplish black, globose, often with tepals persisting at base. <b>Seeds</b> 1–6, black, globose to angular. <b>x</b> = 10.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Europe;Asia;Africa;some widely introduced;expected elsewhere.
|discussion=<p>Species 170–300 (4 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p><i>Asparagus</i> 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 <i>Asparagus</i> and the Asparagaceae.</p><!--
--><p><i>Asparagus</i> virgatus Baker has been collected once as a garden escape in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, but it is probably not truly naturalized in the flora. <i>Asparagus</i> falcatus Linnaeus occasionally persists after cultivation in the Miami–Dade County area of southern Florida (W. S. Judd 2001).</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=jessop1966a
|text=Jessop, J. P. 1966. The genus Asparagus in southern Africa. Bothalia 9: 31–96.
}}{{Treatment/Reference
|id=malcomber1993a
|text=Malcomber, S. T. and Sebsebe D. 1993. The status of Protasparagus and Myrsiphyllum in the Asparagaceae. Kew Bull. 48: 63–78.
}}{{Treatment/Reference
|id=sovetts1986a
|text=Sovetts, C. and R. Sattler. 1986. Phylloclade development in the Asparagaceae: An example of homoeosis. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94: 327–371.
}}
}}<!--

--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Plants erect; some flowers unisexual.
|[[Asparagus officinalis|Asparagus officinalis]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Plants scrambling, twining, or arching; all flowers bisexual.
|[[#key-0-2| > 2]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Cladophylls solitary at each node, broadly lanceolate to ovate, with 20–24 veins.
|[[Asparagus asparagoides|Asparagus asparagoides]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Cladophylls in fascicles of 3–20 per node, linear or filiform, with single vein.
|[[#key-0-3| > 3]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Cladophylls filiform; pedicels 1–3 mm; inflorescences 1–4-flowered terminal umbels; berries purplish black.
|[[Asparagus setaceus|Asparagus setaceus]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Cladophylls flattened; pedicels 5–8 mm; inflorescences 5–9(–17)-flowered axillary racemes; berries red.
|[[Asparagus aethiopicus|Asparagus aethiopicus]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Asparagus
|author=Gerald B. Straley†;Frederick H. Utech
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Liliaceae
|distribution=Europe;Asia;Africa;some widely introduced;expected elsewhere.
|introduced=true
|reference=jessop1966a;malcomber1993a;sovetts1986a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.;Gen. Pl. ed.
|publication year=1753;1754
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/f50eec43f223ca0e34566be0b046453a0960e173/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V26/V26_367.xml
|genus=Asparagus
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Liliaceae]]