Asparagus officinalis subsp. officinalis
Family: Asparagaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native
Asparagus is a naturalized perennial found in California's Central Valley and western and interior regions in disturbed places, roadsides, and fields at elevations generally below 200 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces green-white flowers in small nodding clusters less than 7 millimeters long. Growing up to 3 meters tall with thick, matted rhizomes and slender branchlets less than 1 millimeter wide, it develops erect stems with distinctive spurred leaves. Its leaves are uniquely structured with subtle spurs, creating a delicate architectural form across disturbed landscapes. The fruit develops as small round red berries approximately 6 to 8 millimeters in diameter, providing a subtle ornamental quality to this widespread introduced species.
Habitat: Disturbed places, roadsides, fields
Bloom period: Mar-Sep
Elevation: generally < 200 m
Bioregions: CA-FP, W&I
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.