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Products > Plants - Browse Alphabetically > Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri'
 
Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri' - Sprenger's Asparagus

Note: This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri'
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Perennial
Family: Asparagaceae (~Liliaceae)
Origin: South Africa (Africa)
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: White
Bloomtime: Spring
Synonyms: [A. densiflorus 'Sprengeri', Protasparagus]
Height: 1-2 feet
Width: 2-3 feet
Exposure: Sun or Shade
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F
Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri' (Sprenger's Asparagus) - Evergreen perennial to 18 to 24 inches tall by 3 feet wide unless climbing on other plants where it can get taller. It has tuberous root and bright green leaves that form bundles on the arching stems which have hooks to enable it to climb. The small white flowers and followed by bright red berries.

Can grow in full sun or part shade; in good or poor soil; indoors or outdoors. It is cold hardy to short duration temperatures down to around 20 degrees F. Often used as a groundcover or in hanging baskets. This plant

Asparagus aethiopicus is native to the southern regions of South Africa, mainly in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the Northern Provinces. The name for the genus originates from the original Greek word 'asparagos' that was given to the cultivated asparagus. The specific epithet means from Africa. The name is attributed to the German botanist Carl Ludwig Sprenger (1846-1917) who reportedly made the plant popular in Europe as an ornamental plant. Sprenger was a partner in the horticultural firm Dammann & Company of San Giovanni a Teduccio, Naples, Italy. The American botanist David Fairchild praised Sprenger as "a brilliant botanist who had established a nursery". This nursery was devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in April 1906.

This plant is planted as an ornamental plant but considered an invasive weed in many locations. We first grew it in 1981 but stop growing it in 2003. The Lotusland Cycad collection once had this plant as the main groundcover and it took years to remove it all. 

This information about Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.