Asparagus lignosus
Asparagus lignosus has pale-to-white branches and tufts of cylindrical leaves.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Asparagoideae
Genus: Asparagus
Species:
A. lignosus
Binomial name
Asparagus lignosus

Asparagus lignosus ("Katdoring") is a thorny, spindly creeper of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.[3]

Description

A rigid, upright shrub reaching 80 cm in height. The branches are zig-zagged, and pale grey-green to white.

At each node along the branch, there is a single recurved 5mm thorn.

The stiff, linear (length 10-20mm), cylindrical, spine-tipped leaves are in tufts.

The flowers are white with a green strip on each tepal. The anthers are orange. They appear singly or in pairs.[4]

This species is part of a group of closely related African Asparagus species, including Asparagus rubicundus, Asparagus concinnus and Asparagus microraphis.[5]

Distribution

This species is indigenous to the Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Its distribution is from Clanwilliam in the far north-west and Cape Town in the west, eastwards across the Little Karoo and Overberg regions, as far as Mossel Bay in the south-east.

It occurs in rocky sandstone slopes, as well as rocky loamy soils in fynbos or renosterveld vegetation on lower slopes and flats.

References

  1. "Asparagus lignosus Burm.f." Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  2. "Asparagus lignosus Burm.f." Catalogue of Life. Species 2000. n.d. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  3. Asparagus lignosus distribution - Redlist
  4. Obermeyer, A.A. & Immelman, K.L, (1992). Flora of southern Africa, Volume 5, Part 3: 59, 60. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  5. Maria F Norup, Gitte Petersen, Sandie Burrows, Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi, Jim Leebens-Mack, J Chris Pires, H Peter Linder, Ole Seberg. (2015). Evolution of Asparagus L. (Asparagaceae): Out-of-South-Africa and multiple origins of sexual dimorphism. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 92: 25-44.

Further reading


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