Herbariuma Backpackers project
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Wild asparagus

Asparagus acutifolius

Family · Asparagaceae · Harmless

Edible
Wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius)Wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius)
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0

The thin bitter shoot that half the country hunts for in spring, hidden under a grey spiny bush. Gathering wild asparagus is a seasonal ritual, with spots kept secret.

Where it grows

Scrubland · Montado · Walls and rocks · Oak woods

Also known as

sharp-leaved asparagus

In flower
In fruit

How to tell it

A tangled grey-green bush with small stiff prickly branchlets instead of leaves. In spring it sends up thin vertical green shoots, which are the asparagus. Red berries in winter.

What it is confused with

Rough bindweed

Smilax aspera

Harmless confusion

They share the scrub and the prickles. Rough bindweed is a climber with broad heart-shaped leaves and tendrils; wild asparagus has no broad leaves at all.

What it is for

The shoots are eaten in omelette, rice or stew, in Portugal and Spain. The red berries are not eaten. Harvest by snapping the shoot by hand, without pulling up the plant.

Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.

Sources