Asparagus buchananii
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Habit
Degraded dry munga woodland/wooded grassland
Mazabuka District
May 2026
Photo: Nick Wightman
Flower
Degraded dry munga woodland/wooded grassland
Mazabuka District
May 2026
Photo: Nick Wightman
Degraded dry munga woodland/wooded grassland
Mazabuka District
May 2026
Photo: Nick Wightman
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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)
| Synonyms: |
Protoasparagus buchananii (Baker) Oberm. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | |
| Description: |
Climbing or scandent shrub 1–3 m high. Branches glabrous, shiny yellowish-brown to purplish. Spines on stems straight, reflexed, flattened at base, 7–35 mm long, those on branches and branchlets smaller. Cladodes on short branchlets in fascicles of 2–6, unequal in length, filiform, 10–25(30) mm long, usually absent at anthesis; stipules lacerated (not intact). Inflorescence simple, rarely a compound raceme 20–70 mm long. Tepals white, 2.5–3 mm long, reflexed with age. Stamens with anthers yellow or dark. Ovary with c.4 ovules in each locule, dark, narrowed below, obtuse above; style short, with 3 short obtuse stigmas. Berry rounded to obovate, 6–7 mm in diameter, 1–3-seeded. |
| Type location: |
Malawi |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | buchananii: after John Buchanan (1855 – 1896), Scottish horticulturist, missionary, farmer and plant collector in Malawi, who became Acting British Consul to Central Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Buchanan_(settler). |
| Habitat: | |
| Altitude range: (metres) | |
| Flowering time: | Mar - Jun |
| Worldwide distribution: | Angola, Botswana, Burundi, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Growth form(s): | Perennial. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Champluvier, D. et Maquet, P. (1988). Liliaceae Flore du Rwanda Spermatophytes Volume IV Page 38. (Includes a picture). Demissew, S. (2008). Asparagaceae Flora Zambesiaca 13(1) Page 24. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 56. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 115. White, F. (1962). Forest Flora of Northern Rhodesia Oxford Univ. Press. Page 15. As Asparagus racemosus |
Other sources of information about Asparagus buchananii:
Our websites:
Flora of Botswana: Asparagus buchananiiFlora of Burundi: Asparagus buchananii
Flora of Caprivi: Asparagus buchananii
Flora of Malawi: Asparagus buchananii
Flora of Mozambique: Asparagus buchananii
Flora of Zambia: Asparagus buchananii
Flora of Zimbabwe: Asparagus buchananii
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Asparagus buchananiiAfrican Plant Database: Asparagus buchananii
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Asparagus buchananii
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Asparagus buchananii
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Asparagus buchananii
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Asparagus buchananii
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Asparagus buchananii
JSTOR Plant Science: Asparagus buchananii
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Asparagus buchananii
Plants of the World Online: Asparagus buchananii
Tropicos: Asparagus buchananii
Wikipedia: Asparagus buchananii