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JoeReal
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 4726
Location: Davis, California
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| Posted: Tue 10 Apr, 2007 5:37 am |
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The plant is about 18 inches tall. Do this belong to asparagus family? What is the common name? Lastly, are the tiny berries edible?
thanks for help in my curiosity:
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JoeReal
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 4726
Location: Davis, California
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| Posted: Tue 10 Apr, 2007 5:44 am |
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Here's a closeup of the berries:
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garnetmoth
Citruholic
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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| Posted: Tue 10 Apr, 2007 9:19 am |
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Looks like a dense asparagus fern
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1850/
theyre invasive-
birds eat the seeds. Shame too, theyre supposed to be really hardy, but come up everywhere. |
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JoeReal
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 4726
Location: Davis, California
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| Posted: Tue 10 Apr, 2007 1:12 pm |
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Thanks Garnetmoth!
I have to assume the berries are edible then. I might gather enough of the berries for a gallon of exotic wine for crazy people like me. If I can collect enough within a year. |
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Patty_in_wisc
Citrus Angel
Joined: 15 Nov 2005
Posts: 1842
Location: zone 5 Milwaukee, Wi
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 1:16 am |
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Joe, eat a berry or two & see how you feel. Birds often eat berries that will make humans sick.
_________________
Patty
I drink wine to make other people more interesting 
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JoeReal
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 4726
Location: Davis, California
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 1:55 am |
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Yadda
Citruholic
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Posts: 40
Location: Zone 9 (Southwest Houston)
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 2:41 am |
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Around here this plant is called foxtail fern. Yadda out.
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Yadda
Still looking for the answer to the question: "How many fruit trees is one too many?" |
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JoeReal
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 4726
Location: Davis, California
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 3:27 am |
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Yadda Thanks!
It is funny how people before our time would name things in very misleading way. We all know that ferns never ever produce fruits like this one. Ferns produce by spores and not by seeds. Yet, left and right, we have many things that have the term 'fern' included in their names. This is one such good example of taxonomic bad naming if we let the marketing department name things the way they are.
Joe |
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Patty_in_wisc
Citrus Angel
Joined: 15 Nov 2005
Posts: 1842
Location: zone 5 Milwaukee, Wi
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 3:53 am |
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I grew asparagus, & after July you are s'posed to let them grow to fern. They then produce those same berry-like fruits that fall off & resead. I never thought of tasting one!
I also see potted "asparugus fern" in nurseries. Makes a nice house plant, but I wonder if it is really asparugus as in the veggie.
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Patty
I drink wine to make other people more interesting
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garnetmoth
Citruholic
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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| Posted: Wed 11 Apr, 2007 8:43 am |
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the lil Daves Garden blurb about it says parts are poisonous if ingested....
online info seems to indicate it is related to asparagus.
[url] http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week269.shtml[/url] Berries and sap are poisonous....
be careful! |
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Ned
Citrus Guru
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 999
Location: Port Royal, SC (Zone 8b)
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| Posted: Sat 14 Apr, 2007 12:00 am |
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I believe this is Asparagus densiflorus 'Myersii' (aka Foxtail Fern). It is definitely a relative of the garden variety, Asparagus officinalis. As has been pointed out, they are ferns in name only.
Ned |
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nospice
Citruholic
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 43
Location: louisiana next to new orleans
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| Posted: Fri 08 Jun, 2007 6:15 pm |
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Foxtail Fern it looks like the two i have |
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