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Asparagus albus L.

Asparagopsis alba (L.) Kunth.

Eng.: White asparagus.   Spa.: Esparraguera blanca.   Fre.: Asperge blanche.   Ara.: Budjelal, bu khala, sakkum.   Tam.: Azzu, azu, azwi.

Deciduous perennial plant, hermaphrodite, with spiny stems, highly lignified, up to 1.5 m long, arising from a thick and short rhizome. Stems and branches little branched, growing in zigzag and with white, smooth and striated bark. Leaves minute, reduced to only small scales, triangular to lanceolate, carrying at its base a strong woody spine —up to 1.5 cm long—, straight or slightly curved. Cladodes born from the leaf axils, grouped in fascicles of 8-30, giving the appearance of being the leaves of the plant, as in Ruscus; 5 to 30 mm long, linear, greenish-whitish, ending in a tip but not spiny, flexible and deciduous in summer. Flowers also born in the axils of the leaves, grouped in bunches of 6 to 12; white, fragrant, hermaphrodite, with a long articulated peduncle 4-7 mm long, slightly longer than the flower; flowers with a double whorl of 6 parts opened like a star. Stamens 6. Fruit a globose berry about 5 mm in diameter, with a smooth surface, first greenish-whitish, then red and finally blackish. It contains 1 single seed, rarely 2.

Flowering:

July to October.

 

Fruiting:

November to January.

Habitat:

It can grow in very varied terrains, but prefers calcareous soils. From sea level up to 1,400 m in altitude. It withstands heat and drought well, but it is very sensitive to cold. In infraMediterranean to thermoMediterranean bioclimatic floors. Characteristic species of thermophilic forests and thickets.

Distribution:

Western Mediterranean. In North Africa it is common throughout the non steppic Mediterranean area, reaching from the S to the Anti-Atlas, and towards the E up to the surrounding areas of Khoms (NW Libya).

Observations:

Another similar species is A. pastorianus Webb & Berthel. (A. retrofractus Schousb.), endemic to the Canary Islands and SW Morocco (Macaronesian area between Safi and Draa River). Both species coexist in the same region, but are easily differentiated because A. pastorianus has younger branches blackish, densely covered by short papillae, and spines usually recurved backwards.

Conservation status:

In principle none of these species are considered threatened. Currently, they are not evaluated at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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