Asparagus racemosus (satavar, shatavari, or shatamull, shatawari) is a species of asparagus native from Africa through southern Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, to northern Australia.[2][3] It grows 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall and prefers to take root in gravelly, rocky soils high up in piedmont plains, at 1,300–1,400 m (4,300–4,600 ft) elevation.[4] It was botanically described in 1799.[1] Because of its multiple uses, the demand for Asparagus racemosus is constantly on the rise. Due to destructive harvesting, combined with habitat destruction, and deforestation, the plant is now considered "endangered" in its natural habitat.[citation needed]
Description
Asparagus racemosus is a climber having stems up to 4 m long. Its roots are both fibrous and tuberous.[3]
Shatavari has small pine-needle-like phylloclades (photosynthetic branches) that are uniform and shiny green. In July, it produces minute, white flowers on short, spiky stems, and in September it fruits, producing blackish-purple, globular berries. It has an adventitious root system with tuberous roots that measure about one metre in length, tapering at both ends, with roughly a hundred on each plant.[citation needed]
The roots of Asparagus racemosus are boiled and give a liquid used as an external wash to treat colds and other sicknesses, by the aborigines of the Moyle River area in the Northern Territory.[9] (The Ngan'gi name for the plant is yerrwuwu.)[9]
^ abH. T. Clifford, J. G. Conran (2020). "Asparagus racemosus". Flora of Australia. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
^Robert Freeman (February 26, 1998). "LILIACEAE – Famine Foods". Centre for New Crops and Plant Products, Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture. Purdue University. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
^ abPizzorno Jr., Joseph E.; Murray, Michael T.; Joiner-Bey, Herb (2015). The Clinician's Handbook of Natural Medicine (3rd ed.). Churchill Livingstone. p. 516. ISBN9780702055140.
^Hechtman, Leah (2018). Clinical Naturopathic Medicine (2 ed.). Elsevier. pp. 879, 908. ISBN9780729542425.
^Goyal, R. K.; Singh, Janardhan; Lal, Harbans (September 2003). "Asparagus racemosus—an update". Indian Journal of Medical Sciences. 57 (9): 408–414. PMID14515032.
^ abcd"Wild asparagus". LactMed. National Library of Medicine, US National Institutes of Health. 16 August 2021. PMID30000872. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
^ abPatricia Marrfurra McTaggart; Molly Yawalminny; Mercia Wawul; et al. (2014). "Ngan'gikurunggurr and Ngen'giwumirri plants and animals". Northern Territory Botanical Bulletin. 43: 166. WikidataQ106088130.
^Sekine, T. (2010). "ChemInform Abstract: Structure of Asparagamine A (I), a Novel Polycyclic Alkaloid from Asparagus racemosus". ChemInform. 26 (5): no. doi:10.1002/chin.199505264.