Asparagus Tourn. ex L.

Overview

Asparagus belongs to the family Asparagaceae; Kew gives its native range as Europe and Africa to northern Australia. Flora of China puts the genus at 160 to 300 species across temperate and tropical Africa, Asia and Europe, 31 of them in China (15 endemic, two introduced), and Flora of Somalia notes that most grow in arid tropical or Mediterranean climates. The species WCVP accepts are listed below.

The genus includes the vegetable asparagus as well as florists’ foliage: asparagus fern, A. setaceus, and the “tree fern” of the import trade, A. virgatus.

Classification and characters

WCVP cites Linnaeus’s Species Plantarum (1753) as the place of publication and sinks genera once split off, such as Asparagopsis, Myrsiphyllum and Protasparagus, as synonyms.

Flora of China describes perennial herbs or subshrubs, usually with short rhizomes, and erect or climbing, much-branched main stems. Clusters of cladodes — the leaf-like stems that look like the foliage — grow in the axils; they are green and flat, three-angled or nearly terete. The true leaves are pressed against the stem, not green, scale-like and spurred at the base, the spurs often lengthening into spines. The fruit is a berry.

Flora of China lists Asparagus plumosus as a synonym of A. setaceus, which is why florists still call it “plumosus”. It climbs to several metres and is slightly woody at the base; the branches spread horizontally with branchlets and cladodes in one plane, like a fern frond; the cladodes are in clusters of 10–13, each 4–5 mm long; the flowers are white and the berries purplish black. It is native to southern Africa, commonly cultivated and occasionally naturalised in China, and “much used by florists”. The Floral Design Institute stresses that it is not a true fern.

Distribution

WCVP records the genus as native to 165 TDWG botanical regions and introduced in 114 more.

Introduced

Accepted species

WCVP accepts 211 species; names with × are natural hybrids. The count changes with revisions; checked 2026-10-28.

Historic plates

Plates in date order; the printed names are kept as they appear, current names are on the species pages and the topic page.

• 

  Asparagus officinalis

  Plantarum indigenarum et exoticarum icones ad vivum coloratae · 1791
  
• 

  Asparagus plumosus

  L'Illustration horticole · 394 · 1880
  

Cut-foliage handling and safety

The Floral Design Institute’s asparagus-fern sheet: choose turgid, flexible stems without kinks, and avoid yellowing foliage that sheds its “needles”. Dip the whole stem in an anti-transpirant to seal in moisture and prevent browning; cut about 5 cm from the stem with a sharp knife and hydrate in plain water for two hours before storing or using, and store in plain water; store at 2–5 °C (36–41 °F). Vase life is 14–20 days, and it is not ethylene sensitive. It is very sensitive to dehydration, which makes the cladodes drop.

Floralife’s A. virgatus sheet: store at 1–3 °C and 75–85% humidity, avoiding softened water; vase life 7–14 days, low ethylene sensitivity, performs well in foam. Problems include Fusarium and Alternaria infections, bacterial blight from Xanthomonas campestris causing necrotic stem lesions, yellowing cladophylls (from mites, fungi or nutrition), cladophyll drop from rough handling in transport or storage, and stem dehydration.

The ASPCA lists asparagus fern (A. densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’) as toxic to dogs and cats: repeated skin contact can cause allergic dermatitis, and eating the berries can cause vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhoea.

Further reading

• Flower guide
• Reference library

References

1. WCVP · World Checklist of Vascular Plants (via ChecklistBank dataset 2232) · accessed 2026-10-28
2. Kew (POWO data on the ColPlanta site) · Asparagus, with Flora of Oman and Flora of Somalia
3. Flora of China vol. 24 · Asparagus
4. Flora of China vol. 24 · Asparagus setaceus
5. Floral Design Institute flower library · Asparagus Fern
6. Floralife · Tree Fern (Asparagus virgatus) care and handling
7. ASPCA Animal Poison Control · Asparagus Fern