Wild Asparagus Plants in the Desert

Q. My wife and I were out hiking and found some wild asparagus growing in the desert, not close to any water. How did it get in these remote places?

"Wild" asparagus can be from an old abandoned homestead or seeds dropped by animals. The size and number of the plants in this Mojave Desert location tells me there is water in this location. If seed can get established and find subsurface water that these plants found then it will survive.

A. Asparagus is thought to be Mediterranean in origin. Like many non-desert plants, it grows best with access to water. When “wild asparagus” is found in the desert it is usually found near irrigation ditches or other “oasis” places that can supply it with water. Sometimes it is found abandoned by homesteaders or seed was dropped by animals, particularly birds. In any case, to survive in the desert it had to have access to water from somewhere.

            When asparagus spears are grown after harvesting, they produce flowers and then berries and seed. Flowering starts when the spears fern out at about 3 to 4-foot heights and eventually bush to about five or 6 feet tall. Asparagus, just like mulberries and ash trees, are dioecious, meaning there are boy and girl plants separated from each other.

Asparagus flowers and then fruits. There are male plants and female plants separately. This seed inside these red berries comes the female plants. Once fresh, the seed easily germinates.

The best spear producers are the male plants. All-male plants are favored for spear production. The best seed producers are female plants. Female plants are not as popular as male plants because their potential growth is used in seed production. Just like the trees mentioned, there is a 50-50 mix of boy and girl plants after germination from seed. Asparagus seed is not difficult to germinate. When the seed is soaked in water for a couple of hours and planted, it germinates easily. 

How asparagus grew there is a good question. But I’m guessing thousands of seed didn’t make it while this one did, if dropped there by animals.