Hi folks,

I found this little fella a few weeks ago and I'm not sure what to label it. I can tell it's an Asparagus Fern (I see the little asparagus shoots when they emerge from the soil), but I'm not sure which one.

Did you find it at a garden center or growing wild? It looks like a juvenile Asparagus Fern (Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri')

I found it at a... hmm, I'm not sure what to call it. It's kinda like Michaels, but they also sell food and furniture. They occasionally get plants in and I found this guy with along with a 'Plumosa' asparagus.

Do baby 'Sprengeri' ferns have such thin needles? I was wondering that myself, but I didn't know if the needles on the babies were so thin.

Edit: Hmm. The needles on these babies look wider than on mine.

I guess I'd call it Suzy or Tom.

gasrocks said:I guess I'd call it Suzy or Tom.

Funny.

As she so often does, Lin has correctly identified your Asparagus Fern.

Ooh. Is there a reason there a reason te needles are so thin?

By thin, are you referring to their density on the stem, the closeness to each other? Their width from side to side? Their girth between top & bottom?

As Lin stated, it is juvenile, meaning it is not fully matured yet so the needles are not as thick. I'm not sure I understand your concern here.

If it came from a store that sells food among other things, I wonder if it might be a variety of Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

purpleinopp said:By thin, are you referring to their density on the stem, the closeness to each other? Their width from side to side? Their girth between top & bottom?

Width side to side. They're about the thickness of a small needle, not flat like the sprengeri I'm used to.

plantladylin said:If it came from a store that sells food among other things, I wonder if it might be a variety of Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

Looking it up on Google, some of the pictures do look very similiar! I see the needle like fronds in those pictures.

Edit: I'll see when it blooms (if it ever blooms...) if it matches that of Asparagus officinalis

I googled for Asparagus offinialis seedling images and these popped up:
https://gobotany.newenglandwil...
http://image1.gardenersworld.c...
http://minneflora.com/classify...

Very similiar! It's definitely not something I've seen before. I've had plumosa, the foxtail cultivar, and sprengeri before and this one had me stumped!

I'm going to sabe that name and see if it blooms, what the flowers show up like. It looks like that particular one blooms off the main stem, so that should be pretty obvious!