Cutflower Nomenclature

Scientific/Botanical Name:

Genus: Asparagus

Specie: A. setaceus (pumosus)

Variety/Cultivar:

English Name:

 

Common Name:

Common Asparagus Fern, Lace Fern, Climbing Asparagus, or Ferny Asparagus

Botanical Family:

Name in Latin: Asparagaceae

Name in English: Asparagus Family

The Plant

Origin: South Africa

Growth Habit: scrambling perennial herb with tough green stems

Flower: small greenish-white bell-shaped flowers

Blooming Period: spring

Leaf: The leaves are actually leaf-like cladodes up to 7 mm long by 0.1 mm in diameter, which arise in clumps of up to 15 from the stem, making a fine, soft green fern-like foliage

Usage:

Asparagus setaceus is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for planting in garden and containers, and as a house plant, foliage is also used in floral arrangements.

Care and Handling

Soil: multipurpose potting soil

Amount of water: Keep the soil moist in the summer and barely moist in the winter

Nutrition: Feed weekly in the summer months and every two weeks in the winter with a water soluble fertilizer diluted by half

Special handling: The fruit (berries) of this plant are toxic and should not be eaten.

Special feature/remarks:

It has become a weed in Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Other areas it regarded as an invasive species and noxious weed include the North Coast of New South Wales, and Queensland.