AusTraits

Asparagus aethiopicus

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Asparagaceae

Taxonomy: Asparagus aethiopicus L.

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Asparagus sprengeri Regel (taxonomic synonym)
  • Protasparagus aethiopicus (L.) Oberm. (nomenclatural synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Asparagus densiflorus (Kunth) Jessop (misapplied)
  • Protasparagus densiflorus (Kunth) Oberm. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), LHI (naturalised), NI (naturalised), Vic (doubtfully naturalised)

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, SA eFlora, Vic Flora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (22), ATRP_2020 (2), Kubiak_2009 (2), Mesaglio_2022 (2), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2024 (14), NSWFRD_2014 (8), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (13), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_1 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_1 (1), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Yang_2023 (1), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (12). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 47 traits from 106 records in 19 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

fire response
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): pink (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 6.5 mm (5-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 6.5 mm (5-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 6.5 mm (5-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): berry (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): fleshy (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): red (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 19.17 mm (10-25 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 2.25 mm (1.5-3 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_type (categorical): scale (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): linear (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): climber (1); climber_herbaceous (1); geophyte (1); herb (5); shrub (2); subshrub (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4); semi_woody (1); woody (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): climbing (1); rhizomatous (2); sprawling (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): zoochory (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • dispersers (categorical): birds (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnnyn (1); nynnnnnnnnnn (1); yynnnnnnyyyy (1); yyyyynnnyyyy (1) [sources: Mesaglio_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (2); rhizome_fleshy (1); root_tuber (2); stem_tuber (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_1; WAH_2023_2]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 4.5 mm (4-5 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 3.5 mm (3-4 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 1.75 m (1.5-2 m) [sources: RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
ABRS_20231522Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_20241014N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on December, 2023.. 2024. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_20231013VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
eFLOWER_Dun_20221212L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
NSWFRD_201488B. Kenny, C. Orscheg, E. Tasker, M. A. Gill, and R. Bradstock. NSW Flora Fire Response Database, v2.1. database. NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, 2014.
NHNSW_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
ABRS_202244Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Sjostrom_200644A. Sjöström and C. L. Gross. “Life-history characters and phylogeny are correlated with extinction risk in the Australian angiosperms”. Journal of Biogeography 33.2 (2006), pp. 271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01393.x.
WAH_2022_144Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
RBGV_202233VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
ATRP_202022F. A. Zich, B. P. Hyland, T. Whiffin, and R. A. Kerrigan. Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. 2020. url: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/intro/index.html.
Kubiak_200922P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Mesaglio_202212T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
WAH_2023_222Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
WAH_2023_111Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.
Yang_202311S. Yang. “Unpublished data: Fire response traits scored from national and state floras and the taxonomic literature, University of New South Wales”. 2023.