i.d. mystery plant?

[Sterling]

I posted over on the binaries.pictures.gardens but no response so far... thought I'd try here too...

I bought this in 1972 as a tiny 89 cent pot plant and I have never seen another one just like it... I think it is some kind of asparagus but not any that I can identify.

I have never seen any flower or fruit on it - however 'insignificant'. I have tried to divide it and nearly killed it.

It has appreciable thorns.

TIA, Sterling

a baby tree of some kind...?? About 10" tall - shot with a piece of white paper behind to increase detail. Looks like some kind of pine or fir??

[alice]

your hand and if it smells like rosemary, then that is what it is

alice

[Sterling]

1 - not either A. densiflorus sprengeri or A. plumosus

2 - absolutely not rosemary - I have quite a few varieties of rosemary as I like to cook with it.

Thanks for try>

[Cereus-validus.......]

I wouldn't even hazard a guess from such bad pictures.

Never use back lighting for a picture of a plant you want identified.

[Sterling]

This plant is very difficult to photograph - try this one for a flash fill... I thought the back lighting showed the silhouette better...

have tried putting it against a plain white wall to photograph it but the shadows of the million tiny leaves make it even harder to distinguish.

Suggestions are welcome. And you have an excellent track record for identification.

TIA, Sterling

[Cereus-validus.......]

Why on earth would you think a silhouette would be any good for identification?

This time try taking pictures with the curtains pulled down and close up so one can actually see some detail.

A ruler in the pix for size comparison is a good idea too.

Don't believe it to be an Asparagus but it is still very nondescript from the pix.

Dr. House and I try our darnedest to be very good at diagnoses.

[DrLith]

the photo doesn't show the stem well at all; and (b) there are a gazillion and one types of bamboo out there. Many species have thorns.

I don't think the little tree is a pine, which have needles attached to the stem in fan-like clusters of 2-5 needles depending on species. Fir needles are attached individually, and flatish. Spruce needles are usually square in cross-section (except Norway spruce, which is triangular).

[Travis]

Name one bamboo that has thorns.

[DrLith]

Guadua angustifolia (a south american bamboo) Bambusa spinosa Bambusa sinospinosa Bambusa blumeana Bambusa bambos Chimonobambusa pachystachys Bambusa arundinacea

[Travis]

Thank you.

[Alfred Falk]

Sterling wrote in news: [e-mail]:

photo, and don't have the scaly leaves of their cultivar parents.

[Sterling]

well I have junipers around here so maybe - I think I'll pot it up for now.

Thanks, Sterl> Sterling wrote in

[fran]

[fran]

replying to my own message - just saw the other posting. I have no clue what this critter is. Has it ever bloomed? And how often do you trim it back?

[Sterling]

[DrLith]

It is looking and sounding more and more bamboo-like all the time, since although bamboo does flower, it only does so very rarely (in some species, only every 100 years or so, after which the parent plant often dies back).

[Cereus-validus.......]

Definitely not a bamboo. The stems aren't articulated.

Its Asparagus (Protasparagus) falcatus. Its not >> I put up a web page with rulers and close ups and all

[DrLith]

recind my suggestion and concur! I only recollect seeing the fernier types, and I guess Google was not my friend :-(

[Sterling]

absolutely!! Thanks very much - that is my plant. Sterling

Cereus-validus....... wrote:

[Cereus-validus.......]

Google shouldn't be used as a primary source of info.

I finally dug out my Asparagus file and found it in there.

I only posted the Google link to provide photographic confirmation for the group.

> I recind my suggestion and concur! I only recollect seeing the fernier