Open AccessTaxonomy of the western European endemic Asparagus prostratus ( A. officinalis subsp. prostratus ) (Asparagaceae)
Author(s) -
KAY Q. O. N.,
DAVIES E. W.,
RICH T. C. G.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01113.x
Subject(s) - asparagaceae , asparagus , biology , officinalis , subspecies , botany , taxon , taxonomy (biology) , plant taxonomy , zoology , systematics
Asparagus prostratus Dumort., (wild asparagus) and A. officinalis L. (cultivated asparagus), often regarded as subspecies or varieties of a single species, have been confused for historical and nomenclatural reasons. A taxonomic review was carried out, and they were found to be distinct species which differ in morphology (characters retained in cultivation), cytology, distribution and ecology, and they are reproductively isolated. The tetraploid A. prostratus is unlikely to be the taxon from which the diploid A. officinalis evolved. Morphological descriptions are presented, and A. prostratus is lectotypified. A. prostratus is a western European endemic of coasts of Belgium, Britain, the Channel Islands, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and The Netherlands.