Type of Asparagus Fern?

Hi!

Just joined up. I currently attend the University of Toronto in Health Studies but I've always loved horticulture. When I noticed greenhouses on top of one of the campus buildings I asked if I could take a tour. The horticulturist was very accommodating and showed me through all of the greenhouses. Having worked in a greenhouse myself years ago, I am familiar with all the plants and their latin names. However, one plant looked similar to an asparagus fern but had different leaves. The stem was exactly like that of an asparagus fern but the leaves were about 6 inches long, approximately a half inch wide, and had distinct horizontal sections at one half inch intervals the length of the leaf. She told me she only knows it as "Intestine plant" and does not know the botanical name. Anybody have any ideas? I told her I would try to find out for her.

Thanks, Angela

 

Sounds vaguely similar to Asparagus retrofractus, Ming Asparagus.

 

Looked up Ming Fern. It's definitely not that. The leaves are too fine and short. This plant's leaves are around 6 inches long each by a half inch wide. Very dark green and leathery. They attach at almost a 90 degree angle to the stem.

 

Then A. falcatus, Sicklethorn, is a closer match but its leaves are shorter.

 

Hi,

Thanks for replying. I looked up A. falcatus and it's not that one either. However, upon reading the description, I had forgotton about the small spines on Asparagus fern's stems. The plant I am trying to identify doesn't have spines. At least none that I could see. The stem is very smooth, very dark green and extremely straight (first thing I thought of when I saw them was garden stakes! But without the bamboo sections). The diameter of the stem is about an eighth of an inch. The leaves I have already described. The sections on the leaves are perpendicular to the leaf itself. Unlike Asparagus, there is not an abundance of leaves. A single leaf comes out of the stem about every 1 - 2 inches. Not a particularly pretty plant. Growth isn't very tidy either. The plant I saw is about a foot and a half tall by a foot wide. Does this information ring any bells for you? The next time I go to school I'm taking my digital camera!!

Angela

 

Perhaps it's not an Asparagus at all. I have no ideas right now but I'll give it some more thought.

 

Hi again,

Thanks for your diligence. I've just spent quite some time on the internet googling "jointed leaves", "green, hard stems", "segmented leaves" and I haven't seen anything even remotely similar. Maybe the digital picture is the best way to go. Thanks again. I'll post the picture next week if I can.

Angela

 

Yeap, a digital pic will be extremely helpful.

 

After carefully rereading your descriptions I realized my previous guesses were way off. I have one last guess: Homalocladium platycladum, syn. Muehlenbeckia platyclada, Centipede Plant.