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daninthedirt

OK, I'm puzzled ...

3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

For many years I've been growing in containers what always thought was Asparagus Fern. Nice plant. I'd like to propagate it, and the way one does so, I understand, is either by separating and digging up a tuber or planting seeds. The seeds allegedly come from small ( ~1/4 inch) red seed pods that the plant produces. But I've never seen such pods on my plants. Instead, after the tiny flowers form, I get what appear to be much smaller (~1mm) beige seed pods. See right in the middle of the attached picture.



So, um, are those really seed pods, and is this really Asparagus Fern?

Comments (11)

  • 3 years ago

    Do you have any pics of the flowers, or can you describe them, color, shape, number of petals?

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Thanks. That's helpful. I've never heard of remnants of blooms that look like seed pods, but maybe they are just the base of the flower once the petals have fallen off? If so, I guess I don't have seeds. Here is a picture of the flowers, some of which are still present on the plants. These are exclusively container plants. Yes, I suppose they'd be kind of invasive.

    I should add that when I pull off the flowers and roll them around in my fingers, there ARE little balls inside. There are tiny brown protrusions near the base of the green stems. Not sure I'd call them "thorns", though. Are these significant?



  • 3 years ago

    Like the vegetable Asparagus, Asparagus ’fern’ is dioecious. If yours is a male plant it will not make berries.

  • 3 years ago

    AF have separate male and female plants. If you only have the one plant, non pollinated flowers makes sense.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Ah, that must be the reason. A male plant. Thank you! Now, I had always thought that Asparagus Fern was a funny name, since it didn't look like it had anything to do with asparagus. But, in fact, it is genus asparagus! That being the case, it also isn't really a fern. Just looks like one.

  • 3 years ago

    It could be female and have unfertilized ovaries, like Tiffany said. I was googling male flowers and what happens to them after blooming, and I couldn't find any pictures. They probably just fall off? Do you want the species identified, or the brown 'seeds' identified?

  • 3 years ago

    If you end up with seeds being produced, it won't be just a container plant.

  • 3 years ago

    Looks like Asparagus densiflorus Sprengeri Group, a pretty common and easy care houseplant. I grew one for many years but couldn't stand the smell of the flowers when they bloomed so eventually got rid of it.

    If a male plant or unpollinated female, you can purchase seeds but is very easily propagated by dividing the tubers in spring.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I was wrong about it being female. The flowers in your pic are male. They have the orange anthers. Female flowers have a green ovary with no yellow or orange parts. I don't think they flower outside here in the midwest, so I'm not familiar with their flowers, or what happens to them after blooming. They are used for container plants, with Pelargoniums and purple spikes,(Cordyline, Dracaena),Vinca vines and other annuals.

  • 3 years ago

    The Cordyline is C. australis. With 'Spikes' apparently being a made up marketing name having no basis. (Unless somebody thinks they have selected a uniform seed strain conforming to the definition of a cultivar). And Dracaena indivisa being a synonym. With there being associated confusion with C. indivisa, a different, much less frequently cultivated species also having a limited wild presence. In contrast to C. australis which is common in nature.