Asphodelus fistulosus
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
asphodel
Biostatus
Exotic
Conservation status
Not applicable
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
Short-lived perennial herb up to about 60 cm with fleshy-fibrous roots. Leaves are linear up to 25 cm by 4 mm, and densely tufted. White or pale pink flowers are held in racemes to about 20 cm, each petal has conspicuous green or purple mid-vein. Black seeds to about 3.5 mm are held in 5 x 5 mm capsules.
Similar taxa
There are several species of Asphodelus cultivated in New Zealand, but A. fistulosus is the only one known to be naturalised.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Usually coastal areas.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
July, August, September
Fruiting
September, October, November, December
Year naturalised
1869
Origin
Mediterranean
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Tolerates very dry conditions in coastal areas
Life cycle and dispersal
Spreads from seeds and some vegetative spread.
Other information
Etymology
asphodelus: Possibly derived from the Greek a- ‘without’ and sphallo ‘to supplant’, the beautiful flowers not easily surpassed.
fistulosus: From the Latin fistula ‘pipe’, referring to a cylindrical or terete shape which is closed at each end
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ASPFIS