Asparagus setaceus Seeds | (syn. Plumosus)

Plumosa fern with arching wiry stems and fine flat sprays of cladodes — Plumosa Fern (*Asparagus setaceus*): Asparagaceae, forest margins of southern Africa.

LATIN NAME: Asparagus setaceus (syn. Asparagus plumosus)

COMMON NAME: Plumosa Fern

Plant Profile

Plumosa fern is not a fern but a climbing asparagus from the forests of southern Africa, grown everywhere as a houseplant for its cloud of fine green foliage. It has wiry, arching stems that scramble up through shrubs by means of small hooks, and what look like feathery leaves are in fact flattened branchlets, or cladodes, arranged in flat sprays. True leaves are reduced to tiny scales at the nodes. Small white flowers open in autumn, followed by round green berries that turn black. The plant tolerates dry air and low light better than most foliage plants, which is why it has been a fixture on windowsills and office desks for a century. Outdoors in warm climates it becomes a dense, scrambling climber.

Science & Biotechnology

Asparagus setaceus is one of a group of African species in which the leaves are reduced to scales and photosynthesis is carried out by cladodes, a modification that has evolved independently in several plant families. The genus is also unusual in its fruit: a berry rather than a capsule, which is why the seed is dispersed by birds. The species is polyploid and variable, and the cultivated form sold as plumosus is one of several selections. It is listed as invasive in parts of Florida, Hawaii and eastern Australia, where it scrambles over vegetation and its seedlings carpet the ground under parent plants. The berries are toxic to people and pets, causing vomiting and abdominal pain, and the sap can irritate skin. The plant’s tolerance of low light is real but limited, and it yellows in deep shade.

Uses & Benefits

The plant is grown for ornament, as a houseplant, a conservatory climber and, in the florist trade, as a filler green for bouquets, where its fine texture sets off heavier flowers. In warm climates it is used as a ground cover under trees and as a screen on a shaded fence, though its invasive habit argues against planting it where it can escape. In its native range the young shoots are eaten as a vegetable, cooked like asparagus, and the tuberous roots are roasted. It has no medicinal use in modern practice. Indoors it is one of the best plants for a north-facing room, and it will live for decades if repotted every few years and kept away from radiators.

Growing from Seed

Sow fresh seed, since it loses viability quickly, in a light mix of peat, sand and perlite, one centimetre deep. Keep at twenty to twenty-five degrees with steady moisture and bright, indirect light; germination takes three to six weeks. The seedlings are delicate and should be pricked out when the first cladodes appear. Grow on in a small pot, since the plant flowers better when slightly root-bound, and water sparingly in winter. Outdoors, plant in a sheltered, frost-free spot with moist but drained soil in half shade. Provide a trellis or a shrub to scramble through. Cut back hard in spring if the plant becomes tangled, and wear gloves, as the hooks scratch.

Our Take

Not a fern, but the best fine-textured houseplant of them all. Keep it out of frost and out of the wild.

Herb Seeds