Asparagus asparagoides

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Family Asparagaceae

Taxonomy: Asparagus asparagoides (L.) W.Wight

Synonyms: 6 (APC 2026-07-30)

Asparagus medeoloides (L.f.) Thunb. (taxonomic synonym)
Dracaena medeoloides L.f. (taxonomic synonym)
Elachanthera sewelliae F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
Luzuriaga sewelliae (F.Muell.) K.Krause (taxonomic synonym)
Medeola asparagoides L. (nomenclatural synonym)
Myrsiphyllum asparagoides (L.) Willd. (nomenclatural synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (25), Cheal_2017 (6), Clarke_2015 (1), Kubiak_2009 (3), Mesaglio_2022 (2), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (8), NHNSW_2024 (14), NSWFRD_2014 (7), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (19), SAH_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (1), SAH_2023 (11), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Soliveres_2012 (2), Standish_2019 (7), WAH_2022_1 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_1 (1), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Yang_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 47 traits from 134 records in 25 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

resprouting_capacity (categorical): resprouts (6) [sources: Cheal_2017; Clarke_2015; Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Standish_2019; Yang_2023]
fire_time_from_fire_to_flowering (numerical): 12 mo (12-12 mo) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 9.33 mm (5-19 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 9.12 mm (5-19 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 8.17 mm (6-10 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): berry (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): fleshy (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): red (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_length (numerical): 31.25 mm (10-70 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 14.67 mm (4-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
leaf_type (categorical): scale (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024]
leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (1); narrowly_ovate (1); ovate (2); widely_ovate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): truncate (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 (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Munroe_2019]
plant_growth_form (categorical): climber (2); climber_herbaceous (3); geophyte (1); herb (4); shrub (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Soliveres_2012; Standish_2019; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): geophyte (1) [sources: Cheal_2017]
life_history (categorical): perennial (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; Cheal_2017; RBGV_2022; Standish_2019; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4); woody (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): climbing (1); rhizomatous (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): barochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Soliveres_2012]
dispersers (categorical): birds (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnynnn (1); nnnnnnnynnnn (1); nnnnnnyyynnn (1); nnnnnyyyynnn (1) [sources: Mesaglio_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4); rhizome_fleshy (1); root_tuber (2); stem_tuber (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_1; WAH_2023_2]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 35.39 mg (35.39-35.39 mg) [sources: Standish_2019]
seed_length (numerical): 3.5 mm (3-4 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
seed_width (numerical): 3.5 mm (3-4 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
seed_shape (categorical): globoid (1); ovoid (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 2.67 m (1-5 m) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2014; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
ABRS_2023	17	25	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_2023	13	19	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2024	10	14	N. 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/.
SAH_2023	8	11	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2014_2	8	8	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_2014	7	7	B. 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.
Standish_2019	7	7	R. Standish. “Unpublished data: Jarrah forest, Murdoch University”. 2019.
Cheal_2017	6	6	D. Cheal. Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets. Fire and adaptive management, report no. 84. Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, 2010.
Sjostrom_2006	4	4	A. 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_1	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_2	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
ABRS_2022	3	3	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Kubiak_2009	3	3	P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
RBGV_2022	3	3	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_2	2	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Mesaglio_2022	1	2	T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
Soliveres_2012	2	2	S. Soliveres, D. J. Eldridge, F. Hemmings, and F. T. Maestre. “Nurse plant effects on plant species richness in drylands: The role of grazing, rainfall and species specificity”. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 14 (2012), pp. 402-410. doi: 10.1016/j.ppees.2012.09.003.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Clarke_2015	1	1	P. J. Clarke, M. J. Lawes, B. P. Murphy, J. Russell-Smith, C. E. Nano, R. Bradstock, N. J. Enright, J. B. Fontaine, C. R. Gosper, I. Radford, J. J. Midgley, and R. M. Gunton. “A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems”. Science of The Total Environment 534 (2015), pp. 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.002.
Munroe_2019	1	1	S. E. M. Munroe, F. A. McInerney, J. Andrae, N. Welti, G. R. Guerin, E. Leitch, T. Hall, S. Szarvas, R. Atkins, S. Caddy-Retalic, and B. Sparrow. “The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in Australia's National Terrestrial Monitoring Network”. Scientific Data 8 (2021), p. 97. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00877-z.
SAH_2014	1	1	J. P. Jessop and H. R. Toelken. Flora of South Australia, 4th edition, 4 vols. Electronic version curated by J. Kellermann, State Herbarium of South Australia.. Government Printer, Adelaide, 1986.
SAH_2022	1	1	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_1	1	1	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.
Yang_2023	1	1	S. Yang. “Unpublished data: Fire response traits scored from national and state floras and the taxonomic literature, University of New South Wales”. 2023.