What is Asparagus officinalis?
{{Italic title}}[[File:Asparagus-Bundle.jpg|thumb|A bundle of Asparagus officinalis]] '''Asparagus officinalis''' is a [[perennial]] from the genus ''[[Asparagus]]'' of the [[Asparagaceae]] family. It is commonly grown as a [[vegetable]], eaten in spring. When people talk about Asparagus as a vegetable, they usually mean this plant. It was once classified in the [[lily]] family, like its ''[[Allium]]'' cousins, [[onion]]s and [[garlic]], but the [[Liliaceae]] have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family [[Amaryllidaceae]] and asparagus in the [[Asparagaceae]]. ''Asparagus officinalis'' is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia,<ref name=fe>{{Cite web |url=http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Asparagus&SPECIES_XREF=officinalis&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= |title=Asparagus officinalis |work=Flora Europaea |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |access-date=2010-05-19 }}</ref><ref name=empp>{{cite web |url=http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |title=Asparagus officinalis |work=Euro+Med Plantbase Project |publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem |access-date=2010-05-19 |archive-date=2011-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083221/http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=grin>{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?300050 |title=Asparagus officinalis |author=USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=National Germplasm Resources Laboratory |location=Beltsville, Maryland |access-date=2010-05-19 }}</ref> A. officinalis is widely cultivated as a vegetable crop. ==References== {{reflist}} {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Vegetables]] [[Category:Asparagales]]