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Asparagus falcatus

Botanic Family

Asparagaceae

Author

Linnaeus

Common Names

• Sickle Thorn
• Mwinikanguru (Kizigua)
• Mwimkangulu (Kizigua)
• Mnamila Mpurimi (Kidoe)
• Mwinamra Pwani (Kidoe)
• Mnamila Mpwani (Kidoe)
• Hatawariya (Sinhalese)

Geographical Habitats

• Angola
• Comoros
• Congo
• SW. Ethiopia
• Gulf States
• India
• Kenya
• Mozambique
• Rwanda
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
• Cape Provinces
• Natal
• Northern Provinces - South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe

Natural Habitats

• Forest margin
• riverside
• montane areas
• coastal forest
• sand dunes

Flowering Times

• Feb Mar (Sri Lanka)

Fruiting Times

• Feb
• Jun
• Nov

Evergreen twining woody vine to 12m with woody stems, glabrous straw-coloured branches with rigid recurva spines to 17mm long. Sickle-shaped leaves 75mm long with large pungent spur, 3-6 cladodes per fascicle cladodes to 120mm x 5mm. Racemes to 55mm long with bracts, of fragrant 4mm white flowers. Fruit light green maturing red 10mm diameter.

Further References

• Menninger 1970
• Bailey 1976
• Beckett 1990
• Huxley 1992
• Bodkin
• The Plant List 2
• FOTA
• Exotica
• Kew
• Gleason & Moldenke
• FZ