Asparagus cooperi
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Image 1
Stems and leaves
02 Apr 2015
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Full name: | Asparagus cooperi Baker |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Haakdoring, Katdoring |
| English common name(s): | Wild asparagus |
| Synonym(s): | Asparagus africanus auct. - sensu Jessop, non Lam., p.p.-- misapplied name Asparagus burkei Baker Asparagus conglomeratus Baker fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus dependens Thunb. fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 36 (1992). Asparagus dinteri Engl. & K.Krause fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus fleckii Schinz fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus francisci K.Krause fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus judtii Schinz fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus lugardii Baker fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus patens K.Krause fide Obermeyer & Immelman in Flora of Southern Africa 5(3): 35 (1992). Asparagus rivalis Burch. ex Kies Protasparagus cooperi (Baker) Oberm. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Stems terete, glabrous, green, wide-climbing; prickles woody, spreading, pungent, 0.167 in. long; branches spreading, slender, copiously decompound, with patent branchlets; cladodia very slender, subulate, often a dozen or more in a cluster, 0.25– 0.333 in. long; flowers axillary, 1–3-nate; pedicels 0.167 in. long, articulated below the middle; perianth campanulate, 0.0833 in. long; segments oblanceolate-oblong, spreading horizontally; stamens nearly as long as the perianth-segments; berry globose, 0.167 in. diam., 1-seeded. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Capensis) Scandent, glabrous or pubescent chamaephytes 2-5 m high, bearing supple, curved branches. Rhizome typical with terete roots. Stems erect below with short sharp spines, twining above. Branches long, spreading, sometimes flowering before cladodes appear. Cladode fascicles maturing later in season, becoming very dense; cladodes filiform, (5-)10-20 mm long. Flowers inside cladode fascicle, few to numerous, with a strong sweet scent; tepals + 2.5 mm long, white with a green midrib; stalks 5-10 mm, articulated near base. Stamens with yellow anthers. Ovary with 4 ovules in each locule; obovoid, dark green. Berry 5 mm in diameter, red. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Southern Africa) Roots long, cylindric, more or less fleshy: sts. large, up to 0.75 in. diam. and 60 or more ft. long, branching above; main sts. and branches dark green, with a soft, very short pubescence : cladodes very dark green, 0.25-0.5 in. long, 5-12 in a cluster, much stouter than in A. plumosus: final branches with twigs and cladodes making beautiful pinnate fern-like sprays ft. long: lf .-scale swollen at base, red-brown, with a strong spine: fls. small, white, bell-shaped, sweet- scented: berry about 0.25 in. diam., red. (from www.gardenology.org website / Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
