Asparagaceae

Taxobox
name = Asparagaceae

---

image_width = 230px
image_caption = "Asparagus officinalis" in flower
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Asparagales
familia = Asparagaceae
familia_authority = Juss. (1789)
subdivision_ranks = genera
subdivision = see text

Asparagaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by quite a few taxonomists, but hardly universally: often the plants involved are treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae.

The APG II system, of 2003 also recognizes this family and places it in the order Asparagales, in the clade monocots. APG II allows two options as to circumscription of the family:
* Asparagaceae sensu lato ("in the wider sense"), that is including all the plants listed in the second option.
* Asparagaceae sensu stricto ("in the strict sense"), consisting of very few genera (notably "Asparagus"), but nevertheless totalling a few hundred species. This circumscription assumes that the following are recognized as separate: :* family Agavaceae:* family Aphyllanthaceae:* family Hesperocallidaceae:* family Hyacinthaceae:* family Laxmanniaceae:* family Ruscaceae:* family ThemidaceaeThese families were also recognized in the APG system, of 1998, except families Hesperocallidaceae and Ruscaceae which are 'new'. Relatively few publications have adopted the APG II's broader circumscription of Asparagaceae, with most adopting the narrower circumscription and recognizing the segregate families.

External links

* [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/asparaga.htm Asparagaceae] [sensu stricto] in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). " [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/ The families of flowering plants] : descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval." Version: 27th April 2006. http://delta-intkey.com
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10507 Liliaceae in "Flora of North America"]
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Tree&id=40552&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock NCBI Taxonomy Browser] [Asparagaceae sensu stricto]
* [http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/gateway_family?fam=Asparagaceae links at CSDL, Texas]