Asparagus aethiopicus
speciesAt a glance
Sources14 archives
Databases and archives Asparagus aethiopicus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility13 998 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI7 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics7 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Asparagus aethiopicus, Sprenger's asparagus, is a plant native to the Cape Provinces and the Northern Provinces of South Africa. Often used as an ornamental plant, it is considered an invasive weed in many locations. Asparagus fern, asparagus grass and foxtail fern are common names; however, it is unrelated to true ferns.Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada. The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd.: 1979. Calkins, Carrol C., ed. A. aethiopicus has been confused with A. densiflorus, now regarded as a separate species, so that information about A. aethiopicus will often be found under the name A. densiflorus.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology18
Life cycle & reproduction15
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment15
Physiology & chemistry2
Other traits3
Compounds documented for Asparagus aethiopicus across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile2 classes
Documented compounds5 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (2R,3R,4R,5R,6S)-2-[[(2R,3S,4S,5R,6R)-3,4-dihydroxy-6-[(1S,2S,4S,5'R,6R,7S,8R,9S,12S,13R,16R)-5',7,9,13-tetramethylspiro[5-oxapentacyclo[10.8.0.02,9.04,8.013,18]icos-18-ene-6,2'-oxane]-16-yl]oxy-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-methyloxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]methoxy]-6-methyloxane-3,4,5-triol | present | LOTUS | |
| (2S,3R,4R,5R,6R)-2-methyl-6-[[(2R,3S,4S,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-[(1S,2S,4S,5'R,6R,7S,8R,9S,12S,13R,16S)-5',7,9,13-tetramethylspiro[5-oxapentacyclo[10.8.0.02,9.04,8.013,18]icos-18-ene-6,2'-oxane]-16-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]methoxy]oxane-3,4,5-triol | present | LOTUS | |
| (2S,3R,4R,5R,6S)-2-[(2R,3R,4S,5S,6R)-4-hydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-2-[(1S,2S,4S,5'R,6R,7S,8R,9S,12S,13R,16R)-5',7,9,13-tetramethylspiro[5-oxapentacyclo[10.8.0.02,9.04,8.013,18]icos-18-ene-6,2'-oxane]-16-yl]oxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5R)-3,4,5-trihydroxyoxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-3-yl]oxy-6-methyloxane-3,4,5-triol | present | LOTUS | |
| shikimate | present | NPASS | |
| Sprengerinin A | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Asparagus aethiopicus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Asparagus aethiopicus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 6013×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-indian_vol2 · CCDB · book-fedorov +3
2n 401×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
n 201×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
Record type13 998 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions36 of 68 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Pretoria, ZA | 192 |
| Brisbane, AU | 88 |
| Auckland, NZ | 49 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 46 |
| Tampa, US | 31 |
| Canberra, AU | 31 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 26 |
| Christchurch, NZ | 13 |
| Adelaide, AU | 11 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 11 |
| Durban, ZA | 10 |
| John T. Waterhouse Herbariumlocation not on record | 7 |
| GHPG$location not on record | 7 |
| Armidale, AU | 7 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 7 |
| Palmerston, AU | 7 |
| Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record | 6 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 4 |
| Hobart, AU | 4 |
| Batemans Bay, AU | 4 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 4 |
| Rotorua, NZ | 4 |
| BIO-UNIPIlocation not on record | 4 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Wollongong, AU | 3 |
| BAYLUlocation not on record | 3 |
| South Kensington, GB | 3 |
| Kensington, AU | 3 |
| Felix d'Herelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruseslocation not on record | 3 |
| GAlocation not on record | 3 |
| Riverside, US | 3 |
| NSW Dept of Planning, Industry and Environmentlocation not on record | 3 |
| Claremont, US | 2 |
| San Luis Obispo, US | 2 |
| Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 2 |
| Smithfield, AU | 2 |
| Cape Town, ZA | 2 |
| Philadelphia, US | 2 |
| Kew, GB | 2 |
| Saint Louis, US | 2 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 2 |
| MAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Blumenau, BR | 2 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 2 |
| Civico Museo di Scienze naturali Giuseppe Orlandilocation not on record | 1 |
| UFSClocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 1 |
| Parkville, AU | 1 |
| Mérida, MX | 1 |
| BClocation not on record | 1 |
| James Cook Townsvillelocation not on record | 1 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Catalina Island Conservancylocation not on record | 1 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Zürich, CH | 1 |
| Gujarat Biodiversity Gene Banklocation not on record | 1 |
| Fredericksburg, US | 1 |
| Wellington, NZ | 1 |
| Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record | 1 |
| CASlocation not on record | 1 |
| Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Provo, US | 1 |
| LNBG$location not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| IFAN Ch. A. Dioplocation not on record | 1 |
| Millersville, US | 1 |
| Phoenix, US | 1 |
| Miami, US | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Asparagus aethiopicus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.