Asparagus are not ferns at all. They are xerophytic flowering plants. The
species grown for their ornamental foliage are not closely related to the
Asparagus officinalis grown as a vegetable and are even placed in a separate
genus named Protasparagus by many botanists. The new shoots are much too
slender to be any good as a vegetable.

Obermeyer, A.A. (1983) PROTASPARAGUS OBERM., NOM. NOV.: NEW COMBINATIONS.
S.Afr. Journ. Bot. 2 (3): 243-244.

Obermeyer, A.A. (1985) THE GENUS PROTASPARAGUS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. Bothalia
15 (3-4): 548-549.

Mathew, B. (1989) NOTES ON TROPICAL AFRICAN ASPARAGACEAE. Kew Bulletin 44
(1): 181-182.


Angela Coffey wrote in message
...
I discovered some asparagus in one of my side gardens that has been
growing
way too long to harvest it. I read somewhere that if you let it go, it'll
turn into a feathery fern looking plant, and that's exactly what these are
doing. Do asparagus ferns start out as an asparagus stalk?? If I let it
keep growing, will I have an asparagus fern eventually? Just curious

Angie