In splitting up the old Lily family into smaller families of more closely related plants, taxonomists defined the Asparagus, Agave, Beargrass, and Brodiaea families, listing them as distinct families sensu stricto ("in the strict sense"), or lumping them together as subfamilies within a conglomerate Asparagus family, sensu lato ("in the wider sense"). Taxonomists currently favor the latter, but unfortunately, the conglomerate family lacks any obvious patterns for intuitive identification. Separate descriptions are provided for each of the subfamilies here to clarify identification. Similar to other lily-like families, members of the Asparagus family typically have 3 sepals and 3 petals that are similar in size and color, plus 6 stamens and a 3-parted pistil.