The genus includes a variety of extant forms, occurring from rainforest to semi-desert habitats; many are climbing plants. Most are dispersed by birds.[citation needed]
In the Macaronesian Islands, several species (such as Asparagus umbellatus and Asparagus scoparius) grow in moist laurel forest habitat, and preserve the original form[citation needed] of a leafy vine. In the drier Mediterranean climate the asparagus genus evolved in the Tertiary into thorny, drought-adapted species.[citation needed] Root tubers are storage organs developed by Asparagus species and are a valuable source of moisture and nutrition for species growing under drought conditions.[3]
Approximately 27% of Asparagus species are dioecious and genomic and biogeographic analysis of the genus supports two independent clade-specific transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy; both events occurred between three to four million years ago in Eurasia and the Mediterranean Basin.[4]
Many species, particularly from Africa, were once included in separate genera such as Protasparagus and Myrsiphyllum. However, partly in response to the implications of the discovery of new species, those genera have been reunited under Asparagus.[5] Species in this genus vary in their appearance, from unarmed herbs to wiry, woody climbers with formidable hooked spines that earn them vernacular names such as "cat thorn" and "wag 'n bietjie" (literally "wait a bit").[6] Most species have photosynthetic flattened stems, called phylloclades, instead of true leaves. Asparagus officinalis, Asparagus schoberioides, and Asparagus cochinchinensis are dioecious species, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Asparagus asparagoides, A. scandens and A. setaceus are considered potentially destructive in California, growing as the result of escaped seeds; all can still be purchased at major and local garden centers. All three have the ability to completely overtake other, unrelated plants in their immediate surroundings, often climbing up the larger ones and strangling them, eventually cutting off the plant's flow of energy and nutrients. Birds are attracted to the red berries after blooming, thus transporting their seeds.
Asparagus asparagoides, A. aethiopicus (under the name A. densiflorus) and A. scandens are listed on the New Zealand National Pest Plant Accord since they are invasive plants.
^Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161 (2): 132–136, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x
^Malcomber, S. T.; Demissew, Sebsebe (1993). "The Status of Protasparagus and Myrsiphyllum in the Asparagaceae". Kew Bulletin. 48 (1): 63–78. doi:10.2307/4115749. JSTOR4115749.
^Marloth, Rudolf. “The Flora of South Africa” 1932 Pub. Cape Town: Darter Bros. London: Wheldon & Wesley.
^Lee DY, Choo BK, Yoon T, Cheon MS, Lee HW, Lee AY, Kim HK (12 January 2009). "Anti-inflammatory effects of Asparagus cochinchinensis extract in acute and chronic cutaneous inflammation". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 121 (1): 28–24. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2008.07.006. PMID18691647.
Fellingham, A.C. & Meyer, N.L. (1995) "New combinations and a complete list of Asparagus species in southern Africa (Asparagaceae)". Bothalia 25: 205-209.
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