Weed Identification

Australia > WA > Swan Coastal Plain (IBRA) > Asparagus

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis

Family: Asparagaceae.

Form: Herb

Origin: Native of Europe, central to western Asian and northern Africa, although the original native range is now obscure due to cultivation.

Flowers/Seedhead: Whitish green, 1 or 2 (rarely to 4) in axils. Flowers spring and summer.

Description: Perennial herb to 1.5 m high. Leaf-like cladodes 5–30 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide. Berries red, globe-shaped, 5–10 mm wide, with 1–9 seed. Seeds ripening black, about 3 mm wide.

Distinguishing features: Distinguished by erect habit; branching cylindrical fleshy roots; annual aerial parts; cladodes feathery, in groups of 2–8 in axils of scale-like membranous leaves; flowers unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants; berries maturing red.

Dispersal: Spread by bird-dispersed seed.


Erect plant Hanwood, NSW, April

Notes: Asparagus is widely cultivated for its edible green shoots (spears). Dies back to ground level in winter, producing a succession of shoots through late spring and early summer. Asparagus is widely naturalised near habitation in cooler parts of Australia and in temperate areas around the world. May be a minor weed in some places.

References:

    Flora of NSW. G. Harden (ed), Vol. 4, 1993, page 45. Flora of Victoria. N. Walsh and T. Entwistle (eds), Vol. 2, 1994, pages 640–641.

Web References: Search Australian web sites for further information on this weed.

Flowers, flower buds & leaf-like cladodes
Root system
Ripe fruit
photos J.R. Hosking

This weed has been included in the WEEDeck field guide as card H83

More information about WEEDeck is available from Sainty & Associates Pty. Ltd.

 

Australia > WA > Swan Coastal Plain (IBRA) > Asparagus

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