(9 votes, average: 4.11 out of 5)
Loading...
Asparagus
Edible 
Spring
Wild Asparagus is mainly the escaped cultivated plant but a few different varieties can grow in the UK. There is also confusion over whether Asparagus officinalis sub prostratus is a sub species or a separate species itself and grows prostrate along the ground, otherwise it looks like A. officinalis. Although edible Wild Asparagus is on the endangered list and should be admired rather than picked.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/a-helping-hand-for-the-wild-asparagus-
| Hedgerow Type | |
| Common Names | Asparagus, Sparrow Grass |
| Scientific Name | Asparagus officinalis, Asparagus prostratus |
| Season Start | Mar |
| Season End | May |
Leaves
The leaves look feathery but are needle like and can feel quite sharp and are not actually true leaves but a modified stem, pictured. The true leaves are the small triangular scale like structures on the young spears and stems.
Flowers
The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellow and are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branches. Later in the year toxic red berries are produced.
Fruit
Toxic red berries ripen in Autumn but start green earlier in the year.
Stem
In its wild shrub like form, the stem is woody and at the base of young growth there should be dry triangular leaf scales.
Habitat
Wood edges, gardens, waste ground and soil with a salt content, ie; coastal or alongside roads that are gritted.
Possible Confusion
There are a few spikey shrubs that look similar but none grow asparagus spears from them.
Taste
Asparagus.
Frequency
Occasional.
Collecting
As it is an endangered species only small amounts of asparagus tips should be harvested when a fully grown shrub is encountered, these ‘tips’ grow along the stem and will open out into what look like leaves if left to grow.
Medicinal Uses
Asparagus can be used as a diuretic, a laxative or a kidney tonic.
Other Facts
Traditionally used as an aphrodisiac.
7 comments for Asparagus
I would love to grow wild asparagus. . What conditions does the plant need?
It’s better to start asparagus under glass although it will grow in soil outside. It takes a year for the bulb to form so as long as you are patient after a couple of years you should get some asparagus growing.
You can buy bulbs from https://www.wildflowershop.co.uk/Bulbs%20In%20the%20Green/bath%20asparagus.htm
This one is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, a bulb, rather than Asparagus ……. š
Wild asparagus is big thing here in Slovenian Istria, where I now live. The wild variety (called ‘shpargle’ in dialect) is very different to the cultivated variety (called ‘belushi’). It is tall and thin with a strong, bitter taste. Usually cooked with scrambled eggs, it is often mixed with other wild shoots, i.e. white bryony (yeah, I know it’s poisonous, but I survived) and butcher’s broom.
Has anyone here managed to forage wild asparagus in the UK. Iām intrigued by this now.
It’s difficult to know if it’s wild or feral but we have found it occasionally in Spring and seen the mature shrub in woodland.