Asparagus lignosus Burm.F.

Rigid, erect, glabrous, evergreen, shrublets, ±0.6 mm high, very spiny. Rhizome compact, bearing numerous long, cylindrical roots. Stems erect, grooved, branching frequently, pale grey or white, becoming brown and smooth with age. Spines sharp, exserted, ±5 mm long, progressively shorter on branches and the shallowly zigzagging branchlets. Cladodes terete, ±12-20(-45) mm long, grooved when dry, apiculate, glaucous green, the base flattened into a small yellow disc. Flowers 1-4, inside apical cladode fascicle of the branchlets, tepals 2-4 mm long, white. Stamens with orange anthers. Ovary with 5 or 6 ovules in each locule. Berry 1-3-seeded, 6-9 mm in diameter, red. Flowering from February to April and October to November.