Asparagus officinalis

Family:ASPARAGACEAE
Species:Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
Common Name:Wild Asparagus; Garden Asparagus
Habitat:Cultivated and escaped along roadsides and other disturbed sites.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Wild Asparagus is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Asparagus family (Asparagaceae). It is native to Europe and western Asia. Wild Asparagus is commonly cultivated and has escaped around the world. In Alabama it can be found state wide. Wild Asparagus occurs on roadsides, along railroads, near old home sites, and in pastures. It is an herbaceous perennial with thick roots from fibrous rhizomes. The stems are erect, to 4 feet tall, freely branched, green in color, sometimes glaucous, and glabrous. Leaves are alternate, small and scale-like with a hardened base. The leaves subtend a cluster of 4-15 needle-like cladophylls (a flattened stem that resembles a leaf). Flowers are produced in axillary racemes of 1-3 flowers. Individual flowers are bisexual or unisexual, bell-shaped, with 6 yellowish-green tepals. The fruit is a red berry. Wild Asparagus has been collected for use as a vegetable since ancient times. The young newly emerged shoots are collected in early spring before they become fibrous. Cattle have been poisoned by eating asparagus plants, and contact dermatitis has been reported in humans. The berries are believed to be poisonous in humans but are readily consumed by birds.—A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native, FACU- (NWI)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyASPARAGACEAE - Asparagus family
Genus Asparagus
Species Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus - Wild Asparagus; Garden Asparagus

Citation

Citation ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 313. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: Without data (lectotype: LINN 434.1). Lectotypified by Coode, in Bosser et al., Fl. Mascar. 183: 8. 1978.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Asparagus caspius Asparagus caspius Hohenacker, Enum. Pl. Talysch 24. 1838, non Schultes f. 1829.  

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Escambia, Etowah, Hale, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, St. Clair, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Winston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1962 - 2020

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
USAM000008136 Mobile 05 Dec 1974 LeLong, Michel G.
8244.3
USAM
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_45766 Perry 15 May 1971 Fuller, C.W.
074
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
UWAL0011336 Sumter 22 Apr 2011 Keener, Brian R.
6409
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
ALNHS00005509 Montgomery 27 Apr 2017 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#3233
ALNHS
Asparagus officinalis L.
UWAL0050668 Lee 14 May 1973 Villadsen, Martha
244
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
USAM000008134 Mobile 25 Jun 1978 LeLong, Michel G.
10401
USAM
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_1780 Lee 14 Apr 1949 Cunningham, Hugh B.
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
UWAL0047245 Autauga 19 Oct 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1389
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_72524 Winston 1 May 2009 England, J. Kevin
2036
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
JSU101951 St. Clair 15 May 1984 Baldwin, D. Dean
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UWAL0004891 Marengo 28 Jun 2011 England, J. Kevin
2965
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000047765 Autauga 19 Oct 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1389
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
JSU101945 Jackson 29 Apr 1998 Brodeur, Kristin R.
558
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000035348 Butler 25 Jun 2012 Diamond, Alvin R.
23141
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AMAL00017747 Hale 22 Apr 2009 Barger, T. Wayne
95
AMAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
AUA000036610 Lee 23 Jul 2011 Hansen, Curtis J.
5157
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
JSU101944 Etowah 11 May 1994 Hodge, Lesley M.
1464
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000011147 Pike 07 Nov 2006 Till, J.C.
80
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00007295 Tuscaloosa 5 Apr 1975 Thompson, Meta H.
71
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101939 Calhoun 27 May 1982 Whetstone, R. David
11205
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UWAL0008602 Montgomery 01 Jul 2011 Diamond, Alvin R.
22297
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00060658 Tuscaloosa 13 May 1974 Clemens, Jean
28
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
UNA00007244 Mobile 26 Aug 1965 Deramus, Rebecca
D724
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
UWAL0011466 Bullock 17 May 2012 Dykes, Bailee
740
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00050674 Barbour 14 Jun 1997 MacDonald, John R.
10678
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
USAM000008135 Mobile 28 Jun 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11231
USAM
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_65048 Monroe 9 May 2004 Spaulding, Daniel D.
12099
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
AUA_ACC_32532 Tallapoosa 20 Apr 1974 Claybrook, Charles R.
088-A
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
UNA00007295 Tuscaloosa 05 Apr 1975 Thompson, Meta H.
71
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
AMAL00001127 Blount 27 Jun 1998 Keener, Brian R.
1115
AMAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
UWAL0014478 Winston 01 May 2009 England, J. Kevin
2036
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00054413 Blount 27 Jun 1998 Keener, Brian R.
1115
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
UNA00073662 Sumter 22 Apr 2011 Keener, Brian R.
6409
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
UWAL0011668 Pickens 27 Jun 2013 Keener, Brian R.
7966
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
SAMF0000707 Tuscaloosa 30 Apr 1965 Armstrong, Carolyn
39
SAMF
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UWAL0056537 Colbert 13 May 2020 England, Kevin J.
11015
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
AMAL00020621 Winston 01 May 2009 England, J. Kevin
2036
AMAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_38520 Macon 25 Jul 1971 Spratling, R.E.
094
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
AUA_ACC_46641 Chambers 22 Apr 1979 Conrad, K.
058
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
JSU101952 Winston 02 Jun 1974 Atkinson, Tim A.
296
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA000041214 Escambia 26 Oct 2013 Hansen, Curtis J.
5857
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
UWAL0013555 Pike 06 Dec 2012 Diamond, Alvin R.
23582
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000032466 Montgomery 01 Jul 2011 Diamond, Alvin R.
22297
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
JSU101940 Calhoun 12 Jul 1969 Tudor, Jessica
s.n.
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_1779 Lee 13 May 1936 Thompson, C.J.
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
USAM000008133 Lee 22 Jun 1970 Roger, Norman
47
USAM
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00007300 Tuscaloosa 18 Apr 1962 Gibbons, Whit
94
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
AUA_ACC_38521 Lee 24 Jul 1971 Wisdom, Nalria J.
094
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
JSU101946 Jackson 21 Sep 1997 Spaulding, Daniel D.
10071
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_48887 Pike 17 May 1988 Diamond, Alvin R.
4787
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
TROY000026255 Chambers 15 Jun 2002 Spaulding, Daniel D.
11386
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UWAL0053297 Cleburne 30 Jun 2019 Spaulding, Daniel D.
15932
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101948 Lee 16 Apr 1969 Bozarth, Gene A.
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00007300 Tuscaloosa 18 Apr 1962 Gibbons, Whit
94
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
TROY000011145 Pike 05 Apr 1997 Dickenson, Andrew
2
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_42375 Lee 11 Jul 1972 Bloodworth, N.Beth
048
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
JSU101943 Cherokee 20 May 1994 Ballard, J. Mark
3998
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00007224 Hale 14 Oct 1965 Maginness, Sherrie E.
112
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101947 Lawrence 18 Sep 1994 Spaulding, Daniel D.
6446
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
JSU101938 Calhoun 20 Jun 1969 Ballard, Sarah
81
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000026256 Morgan 09 May 2004 Spaulding, Daniel D.
12099
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AMAL00001128 Chambers 15 Jun 2002 Spaulding, Daniel D.
11386
AMAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
TROY000011146 Pike 18 May 1989 Lowe, Peggy
36
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000028074 Crenshaw 31 May 2009 Diamond, Alvin R.
20747
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
ALNHS00004217 Morgan 14 Jul 2016 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2640
ALNHS
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101942 Calhoun 17 Apr 1967 Reynolds, Jane
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00059374 Chambers 15 Jun 2002 Spaulding, Daniel D.
11386
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101950 Randolph 17 Jul 1996 Ballard, J. Mark
6223
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000040759 Sumter 22 Apr 2011 Keener, Brian R.
6409
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
JSU101949 Morgan 15 Sep 1996 Spaulding, Daniel D.
9216
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UWAL0032707 Morgan 20 May 2016 England, J. Kevin
6398
UWAL
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000035567 Bullock 17 May 2012 Dykes, Bailee
740
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AMAL00011829 Morgan 09 May 2004 Spaulding, Daniel D.
12099
AMAL
Asparagus officinalis L.
TROY000036200 Marengo 28 Jun 2011 England, J. Kevin
2965
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_43259 Conecuh 28 Jun 1985 Diamond, Alvin R.
1011
AUA
Asparagus Officinalis L.
UNA00073764 Winston 01 May 2009 England, J. Kevin
2036
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
JSU101941 Calhoun 17 Apr 1967 Reynolds, Elaine
JSU
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
UNA00065081 Morgan 09 May 2004 Spaulding, Daniel D.
12099
UNA
Asparagus officinalis L.
SAMF0000706 Hale 14 Oct 1965 Maginness, Sherrie E.
112
SAMF
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
TROY000046644 Winston 01 May 2009 England, J. Kevin
2036
TROY
Asparagus officinalis Linnaeus
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