Asparagus striatus

Asparagus striatus is a hard shrub, branched and spineless, reaching 60 cm in height.

Clusters of tiny white, fragrant flowers arrive in late spring after rain. Buds are present on the plant in picture, photographed in October in the Karoo National Park at Beaufort West.

The fruit of the bergappel (mountain apple) in Afrikaans, is a small berry, 5 mm in diameter. Fruit colour changes from green to yellow and later red when ripe. These fruits should not be confused with the large green or greyish galls also growing on the plant, caused by a fly (Asparagobius braunsi), probably earning the plant the bergappel name.

The species is distributed in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape and the Free State, mainly in the inland arid regions. It grows on rocky slopes in a variety of soil types. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).