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Asparagus flagellaris
Asparagaceae FAMILY

Asparagus flagellaris

Asparagus flagellaris

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

A plant of low to moderate elevations in the tropics. It grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,000 - 1,800mm[1]. Succeeds in a variety of soil types[1]. Thick, succulent shoots are produced when the plant is grown in a rich, moist soil[2]. This species is capable of being improved by breeding and cultivation[3].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Pre-soak stored seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in containers in a lightly shaded position. It usually germinates in 3 - 6 weeks at 25°c[4]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a sunny position until ready to plant out[PFAF]. The seed can be stored for long periods[2]. Division as the plant comes into growth. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Asparagus+flagellaris>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
  2. [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  3. [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  5. [5]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
  6. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎