Asparagus capensis
L.
Wild Asparagus
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(c) Campbell Fleming, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Campbell Fleming
(c) Campbell Fleming, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Campbell Fleming
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(c) Gigi Laidler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Gigi Laidler
(c) Gigi Laidler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Gigi Laidler
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Ismail Ebrahim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ismail Ebrahim
(c) Ismail Ebrahim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ismail Ebrahim
What to Eat
Edible parts: Shoots, Fruit, Vegetable
The shoots are eaten as a vegetable, and the fruit are eaten as a snack, particularly by children.
Where to Find It
It is a Mediterranean climate or subtropical plant.
Africa, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A dense thorny shrub. It grows 1 m tall. The leaves are small and spiny. The flowers are very small and white. They have a scent.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Asparagus capensis, also called katdoring (from the Afrikaans for 'cat-thorn') is a dense, thorny, shrub of the Asparagus genus, that is indigenous to South Africa and Namibia.
Other Information
The fruit are eaten by children.
Notes
There are between 160-300 Asparagus species.
Names & Synonyms
Katbus, Katdoring, Kattedoring
References (9)
- De Vynk, J. C., et al, 2016, Indigenous edible plant use by contemporary Khoe-San descendants of South Africa's Cape South Coast. South African Journal of Botany. 102 (2016) 60-69
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 255
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 57
- Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 202
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 30
- Sp. pl. 1:314. 1753
- van Wyk, Be., & Gericke, N., 2007, People's plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza. p 68
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
- Wikipedia,
