Wild asparagus is the same plant that we think of as garden asparagus.   Over centuries it has spread across the continent, growing in areas that meet the right conditions (damp soil, full sun, slightly alkaline).   It sends up spears in the spring and we probably walk right past them when we could be harvesting them.   Asparagus is easier to spot as it grows taller with its stiff stems and fern-like foliage.

asparagus

• Asparagus officinalus is a perennial formerly in the lily family, but now in its own family, asparagaceae.
• It grows from rhizomes, with unbranched stems emerging first.
• The tender young spears are the ones harvested for the dinner table.
• The plants can grow to 2m.
• Small greenish-white, coral, or yellowish flowers form on male or female plants.   The small bells bloom at the end of slender branches and face downwards.

asparagus flowers

• Red berries form later in summer.   They are not edible, but birds harvest and fly off with them and the seeds may be deposited in a new location for future growth.

Sage Trail in September

• In fall, the foliage turns a showy yellow color.   That is the time that we usually spot the plants (and we have marked the spot with a GPS for a return visit in spring).

Peterson Creek in October

We encounter a plants in unlikely spots like the Six Mile Hills, Peterson Creek Canyon (high on the sidehill), in the Valleyview silt cliffs, and on grassland slopes around the Thompson River Valleys.

asparagus