Links/References:

Study: “Functional traits of floral and leaf surfaces of the early spring flowering Asphodelus ramosus in the Mediterranean region.”

Flora of Gibraltar Database: Asphodelus ramosus

Note: The Asphodel associated with the Asphodel Geophyte Deserts is Asphodelus aestivus, a species that’s very similar to Asphodelus ramosus. More info can be found in this study.

“Asphodelus aestivus Brot. (A. microcarpus Viv.) is a perennial tuberous geophyte of the family Asphodela- ceae (Asparagales), widely distributed over the Mediterranean basin (Diaz Lifante, 1996; Polunin and Huxley, 1965). It is a widespread and invasive weed of the calcareous soils of pastures and grasslands, particularly abundant along road sides. It is found both in arid and semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems (Margaris, 1984) and in certain regions of North Africa (Le Houerou, 1979; Naveh, 1973). These ecosystems, very often referred to as ‘‘asphodel deserts’’, are characterized as the final degradation stages in the Mediterranean regions (Ayyad, 1976; Ayyad and Hilmy, 1974; Le Houerou, 1981). According to the epics of Homerus, the souls of the dead first arrived in underground meadows (Asphodelos leimon) on which only asphodels bloomed (Odyssey, XI, 539, 573, XXIV, 13).”