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.