Asparagus fallax

Asparagus fallax, the Monteverde asparagus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae.

Asparagus fallax
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Asparagoideae
Genus:	Asparagus
Species:	A. fallax
Binomial name
Asparagus fallax Svent.

Description

Within the genus, it is distinguished by its more or less erect stems, which later become twining, with numerous short, non-thorny cladodes and inflorescences with few flowers, whose tepals measure 3–4 mm. This species is included in the Catalogue of Endangered Species of the Canary Islands, as endangered, on the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera.

Distribution and habitat

It is endemic to the Canary Islands. It is endemic to the laurisilva of Tenerife and La Gomera.^[2]

Taxonomy

Asparagus fallax was described by Eric Ragnor Sventenius and published in Additamentum ad floram canariensem 1: 4 1960.^[3][4]

Etymology

See: Asparagus

fallax: epithet that comes from Latin fallere, which means "to deceive", probably because it was long confused with another similar species.