Taxon: Asparagus officinalis L.

Summary

Genus:

Asparagus

Family:

Asparagaceae

Subfamily:

Asparagoideae

Nomen number:

300050

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:313. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

01/23/1992 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

124 (81 active, 43 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Autonym(s)
Asparagus officinalis L. subsp. officinalis
Asparagus officinalis L. var. officinalis

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Asparagus caspius Hohen.
Asparagus longifolius Fisch. ex Steud.
Asparagus officinalis L. var. caspius (Hohen.) Asch. & Graebn.
Asparagus polyphyllus Steven ex Ledeb.

Images (2 total. Click on image for more.)

Links

Seeds or fruits – Seed ID Workshop image, from Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio State University

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Batchelor, K. L. & J. K. Scott. 2006. Review of the current taxonomic status and authorship for Asparagus weeds in Australia. Pl. Protect. Quart. 21:129.
Castro, P. et al. 2013. Assessment of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships in Asparagus species related to Asparagus officinalis. Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 60:1275-1288.
Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 57.
Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants Kampong Publications.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931-1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
Kanno, A. & J. Yokoyama. 2011. Chapter 3. Asparagus. In: Kole, C., ed., Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, vegetables 23-42. Note: this species can be diploid or tetraploid (2n=20, 40)
Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada.
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:81.
Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.).
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:91.
Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
Terrell, E. E. et al. 1986. Agricultural Handbook no. 505
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
2018. Mid-Atlantic invasive plant species (on-line resource)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Note: food crop

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	asparagus			1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English	garden asparagus			1	Terrell, E. E. et al. 1986. Agricultural Handbook no. 505
Chinese	shi diao bai	石刁柏		2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
English (Canada)	asparagus		Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada official name	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 57.
French	asperge			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French (Canada)	asperge		Agriculture & Agroalimentaire Canada nom officiel	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 57.
German	Spargel			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Italian	asparagio			2	International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Japanese Rōmaji	oranda-kiji-kakushi			2	Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.).
Portuguese	espargo			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	espárrago			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	esparraguera			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	sparris			2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Algeria			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Morocco			Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931-1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Tunisia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Armenia			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Azerbaijan			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Georgia			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Russian Federation	Dagestan		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia	Ciscaucasia		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu	n.w.	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kazakhstan			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Mongolia	Mongolia			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Altay		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Gorno-Altay		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Hakasija, Respublika		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Krasnoyarsk	s.	Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Kurganskaja oblast'		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Novosibirsk		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Omsk		Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Tyumen	s.	Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Afghanistan			Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iran			Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Lebanon			Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Syria			Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey			Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Belarus			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Moldova			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	Astrakhan		Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	Kalmykija, Respublika		Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	Saratov		Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	Volgogradskaja oblast'		Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Ukraine		incl. Krym	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Austria			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Belgium			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Czechoslovakia			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Germany			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Hungary			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Netherlands			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Poland			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Switzerland			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Denmark		s.	Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Albania			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bulgaria			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Former Yugoslavia			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Greece			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Italy		incl. Sicily	Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Romania			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	France		incl. Corsica	Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain			Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
2	Cultivated					widely cult.	Kanno, A. & J. Yokoyama. 2011. Chapter 3. Asparagus. In: Kole, C., ed., Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, vegetables 23-42. Note: this species can be diploid or tetraploid (2n=20, 40)
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia			George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
4	Naturalized	Australasia	New Zealand	New Zealand			Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Eastern Europe	Estonia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Eastern Europe	Latvia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Eastern Europe	Lithuania			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation-European part	European part		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Finland			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Norway			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	Sweden			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Canada			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America		United States			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Uruguay			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Bolivia			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador	Galápagos

Native
Africa

NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia

Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
SIBERIA: Russian Federation [Altay, Gorno-Altay, Hakasija, Respublika, Krasnoyarsk (s.), Kurganskaja oblast', Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tyumen (s.)]
MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan
MONGOLIA: Mongolia
CHINA: China [Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu (n.w.)]

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: Denmark (s.)
MIDDLE EUROPE: Czechoslovakia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland
EASTERN EUROPE: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation [Kalmykija, Respublika, Astrakhan, Saratov, Volgogradskaja oblast'], Ukraine (incl. Krym)
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy (incl. Sicily), Romania
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France (incl. Corsica), Portugal

Cultivated (widely cult.)
Naturalized
Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: Finland, Norway, Sweden
EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part], Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia

Northern America

REGION: Canada, United States

Southern America

WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Ecuador [Galápagos]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Uruguay

Reference(s)

Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931-1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
Kanno, A. & J. Yokoyama. 2011. Chapter 3. Asparagus. In: Kole, C., ed., Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, vegetables 23-42. Note: this species can be diploid or tetraploid (2n=20, 40)
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. 2000-. Flora of Siberia (English translation)
Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Skvortsov, A. K., ed. 2006. Flora of the Lower Volga region 1:376.
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Human food	vegetable	Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Human food	vegetable	Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants Kampong Publications.
Medicines	folklore	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Vertebrate poisons	mammals	Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada.
Weed		Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=300050. Accessed 12 May 2026.