Asparagaceae

Alternate or whorled leaves, sometimes reduced to scales with flattened stem-branches (cladodes) taking over photosynthesis, on herbs with underground storage organs; regular six-parted flowers ripen into a berry or capsule.

Several genera store water and reserve carbohydrates in swollen underground rhizomes or bulbs, letting them survive long dry seasons — the same strategy exploited when growing garden asparagus spears.

To check whether a plant belongs to Asparagaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.