| Asparagus rubicundus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asparagoideae |
| Genus: | Asparagus |
| Species: | A. rubicundus |
| Binomial name | |
| Asparagus rubicundus P.J.Bergius (1767) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Asparagus rubicundus ("red-stemmed asparagus") is a fluffy, thorny shrub of the Asparagus genus, that is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. [1] [2] [3]
This species of Asparagus grows as a thorny bush, to a height of 1,5 metres.
Stems are erect, round, smooth, shiny and have a distinctive dark-brown colour.
At each node along a stem, below the branch, there is a single, recurved-spreading (max.6mm) thorn.
The numerous, thread-like leaves are in feathery tufts of about 10. Individual leaves are small (3-7mm), linear-cylindrical, slightly curved, and slightly broader towards their tips.
The flowers (March–June) are white, usually solitary, and have brown stamens. The berries are reddish or black, each with a single seed. [4]
The young shoots of this plant are edible, like those of commercial asparagus. [5]
This species is part of a group of closely related African Asparagus species, including Asparagus lignosus , Asparagus concinnus and Asparagus microraphis . [6]
It occurs throughout the southern and western Cape, as far north as Namibia, and as far east as Uitenhage. It is usually found in coarse sandy, clay or granite-based soil in fynbos or renosterveld vegetation and coastal sand plains.
Asparagus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Asparagoideae. It comprises up to 300 species. Most are evergreen long-lived perennial plants growing from the understory as lianas, bushes or climbing plants. The best-known species is the edible Asparagus officinalis, commonly referred to as just asparagus. Some other members of the genus, such as Asparagus densiflorus, are grown as ornamental plants.
Eucomis comosa, the pineapple flower, pineapple lily or wine eucomis, is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family Asparagaceae. A deciduous bulbous perennial used as an ornamental plant, it is endemic to South Africa. The white to purple flowers appear in summer and are arranged in a spike (raceme), topped by a "head" of green leaflike bracts.
Asparagus asparagoides, commonly known as bridal creeper, bridal-veil creeper, gnarboola, smilax or smilax asparagus, is a herbaceous climbing plant of the family Asparagaceae native to eastern and southern Africa. Sometimes grown as an ornamental plant, it has become a serious environmental weed in Australia and New Zealand.
Asparagus aethiopicus, Sprenger's asparagus, is a plant native to the Cape Provinces and the Northern Provinces of South Africa. Often used as an ornamental plant, it is considered an invasive weed in many locations. Asparagus fern, asparagus grass and foxtail fern are common names; however, it is unrelated to true ferns. A. aethiopicus has been confused with A. densiflorus, now regarded as a separate species, so that information about A. aethiopicus will often be found under the name A. densiflorus.
Phylloclades and cladodes are flattened, photosynthetic shoots, which are usually considered to be modified branches. The two terms are used either differently or interchangeably by different authors. Phyllocladus, a genus of conifer, is named after these structures. Phylloclades/cladodes have been identified in fossils dating from as early as the Permian.
Protea caffra, native to South Africa, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and hairless. The flower head is solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 with the involucral bracts a pale red, pink or cream colour. The fruit is a densely hairy nut. The species is highly variable and has several subspecies.
Aloe ferox, commonly known as bitter aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. This woody aloe is indigenous to southern Africa. It is one of several Aloe species used to make bitter aloes, a purgative medication, and also yields a non-bitter gel that can be used in cosmetics.
Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis, the fan-aloe, is a succulent plant endemic to a few mountains in the Fynbos ecoregion, of the Western Cape in South Africa. The plant has an unusual and striking fan-like arrangement of its leaves. It may grow as a large multistemmed shrub or as a small tree. It is one of the two species in the genus Kumara.
Asparagus falcatus is a large, thorny, climbing plant of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to South Africa and Mozambique. It is often grown as a security hedge in southern Africa.
Asparagus virgatus is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family. It indigenous to South Eastern Africa. It is also known as tree fern, tiki fern, and African broom fern. Asparagus virgatus is a member of the genus Asparagus, and not a true fern.
Asparagus densiflorus (among several species colloquially called asparagus ferns; no relation to actual ferns), or the foxtail fern (asparagus) or plume fern, is a variable, evergreen-perennial plant related to cultivated, edible asparagus.
Asparagus capensis, also called katdoring is a dense, thorny, shrub of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to South Africa and Namibia.
Asparagus lignosus ("Katdoring") is a thorny, spindly creeper of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
The Asparagales are an order of plants, and on this page the structure of the order is used according to the APG III system. The order takes its name from the family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots. The order is clearly circumscribed on the basis of DNA sequence analysis, but is difficult to define morphologically, since its members are structurally diverse. The APG III system is used in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. With this circumscription, the order consists of 14 families with approximately 1120 genera and 26000 species.
Crassula atropurpurea is a succulent plant, very common and widespread in the southern Karoo regions of South Africa and Namibia.
Asparagus krebsianus is a shrub of the Asparagus genus that is native to rocky areas in southern Africa. It ranges from central Malawi through Mozambique to the Northern Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, and Cape Provinces of South Africa.
Asparagus burchellii, is a shrub of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to dry scrub vegetion in the southern Cape region, South Africa.
Asparagus retrofractus is a shrub of the Asparagus genus that is indigenous to the western regions of South Africa.
Asparagus suaveolens, is a shrub of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to rocky areas in Africa, from Kenya to South Africa.
Wachendorfia brachyandra is a small to large, 10–65 cm (3.9–25.6 in) high, winter-growing, perennial herbaceous plant that grows from a rootstock, and has been assigned to the bloodroot family. Its simple, entire, line- to lance-shaped leaves that are usually shorter than the stem, and have pleated, laterally flattened leaf blades af about 35 mm (1.4 in) wide, meaning that there are left and right surfaces rather than upper and lower. The inflorescence is a lax panicle and at the base of each flowerstalk is a dry, brown and papery bract, and those higher in the panicle have a recurved tip. The mirror-symmetrical pale apricot-yellow flowers consist of six tepals and are adorned with brown markings on the upper three tepals. There are three anthers that are clustered and about half as long as the tepals. Each individual flower only lasts one day. Flowering occurs from August to December. This species grows in the wild in the Western Cape province of South Africa only, and is much less common than its relatives W. paniculata and W. thyrsiflora. It is sometimes called short-stamen butterfly-lily in English.
