Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Asparagus setaceus

climbing asparagus-fern, common asparagus fern, lace-fern
Stems

to 4 m, wiry, smooth, branches planate;

cladophylls in fascicles of (5–)8–20 per node, filiform, 4–10 × 0.5 mm, ± rigid, with single vein.
Leaves

membranous, 1–2 mm;

blade forming short spine with reflexed apex, base hardened.
Inflorescences

terminally umbellate, 1–4-flowered.
Flowers

bisexual, nodding;

perianth spreading, campanulate;

tepals white, 3–4 × 1–1.5 mm;

pedicel 1–3 mm, jointed at or just above base.
Berries

purplish black, 4–5 mm.
Seeds

1–3.
Vines

, woody, scrambling or climbing to 5 m;

roots fibrous.
2n

= 20.

Asparagus setaceus
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Waste places, abandoned gardens
Elevation 0–100 m [0–300 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; s Africa; e Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Asparagus
Sibling taxa
A. aethiopicus, A. asparagoides, A. officinalis
Synonyms Asparagopsis setacea, A. plumosus
Name authority (Kunth) Jessop: Bothalia 9: 51. (1966)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 214. Treatment authors: Gerald B. Straley†, Frederick H. Utech.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Boraginaceae and Polemoniaceae.)

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers