Scientific/Botanical Name:
Genus: Asparagus
Specie: A. sprengeri (aethiopicus)
Variety/Cultivar:
English Name:
Common Name:
Asparagus fern
Botanical Family:
Name in Latin: Asparagaceae
Name in English: Asparagus Family
The Plant
Origin: South Africa.
Growth Habit: branching perennial herb with tough green aerial stems which are sparsely covered with spines.
Flower: small white or pinkish-white flowers are 0.3-0.5 cm long and arise in clusters off the stem
Blooming Period: spring
Leaf: leaves are actually leaf-like cladodes, which are 0.8-2 cm long and 0.1-0.2 cm wide, and arise in groups of four or more from the stem
Usage:
Ornamental Plant, foliage
Care and Handling
Soil: general 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: Does best in bright indirect sunlight coming from the North/East/West
Special feature/remarks:
The root system is a mat of fibrous roots with bulbous tubers, from which plants may re-sprout. Flowers are followed in summer by small round berries 0.5 cm in diameter, which bear a black 3 mm diameter seed. Initially green, the berries mature and turn red in the winter.