Asparagus setaceus

Asparagus setaceus is a scrambling climber from eastern and southern Africa, native from central Ethiopia to South Africa and the Comoros, where it grows in forests in regions with alternating wet and dry seasons. Despite the common name it is not a fern but a relative of edible asparagus: its soft, needle-like 'leaves' are cladodes — flattened stem branches up to 8 mm long, held in tufts of 10–20 — while the true leaves are reduced to tiny scales and small spines on the wiry stems. As a houseplant it usually reaches 60–90 cm, and outdoors it twines up to 2.5 m, storing water in thick, tuberous roots that carry it through dry spells. In a terrarium it works best as a small division set among broad-leaved plants, since it grows quickly, its roots can crowd the glass, and the needles it sheds can rot on the substrate. It does best in bright, filtered light with steady humidity at 13–27 °C; the berries are toxic to people and pets, and the sap can irritate skin.