Interesting facts: do you know the origin of the name 𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘴?

What’s in a name?

Asparagus comes from the Greek word aspharagos meaning ‘sprout’ or ‘shoot’ - new stalks of any plant tender enough to be eaten. An Old English word spere meant ‘spear’ or ‘long shaft with penetrating head’ which is why the shoots of asparagus are called spears. In Middle English the plant was called sperage or sperach. It was even nicknamed ‘sparrow grass’ but herbalists knew that its Classical Latin name was asparagus, the Roman version of the Greek word.