Alegra-campo (Semele androgyna)

A shrub of the lily family (Liliaceae), subfamily Asparagoideae, widely grown in the quintas and gardens of Madeira and found growing wild in some ravines of the interior. Its long branches, abundantly furnished with branchlets bearing large ovate, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate cladodes, are highly ornamental. They are used to decorate the walls of churches at religious festivals, and for some other purposes as well. The small-leaved alegra-campo is Asparagus asparagoides, a plant native to the Cape of Good Hope and belonging to the same family and subfamily.