Satamuli

Satamuli

Scientific name:  Asparagus racemosus Willd.

Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1981)

Kingdom: Plantae

Phyllum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Order:Asparagales

Family:Asparagaceae

Genus: Asparagus

Species: A. racemosus

Botanical Description

Habit:A perennial, slender, scandent shrub with reflexed spines, root tuberous, many together. Leaves scale-like, minute, cladodes present in scale­like leaf axils. Cladode 2-6 nate, acicular, triquetrous, falcate, finely acuminate, 1.0-2.5 cm long.Inflorescence a raceme.

Flowers:Flowers bisexual, bracteate, pedicellate, white and sweet scented. Perianth segments 6, spreading.

Androecium:Stamens 6, adnate to the base of the perianth lobes, filaments free, anthers minute, oblong, purplish.

Gynoecium:Carpels 3, ovary superior, trigonous, 3-celled, 2-several ovules in each cell.

Fruits:Fruit a berry, globose, 4-6 mm in diameter.

Economic Importance: Tuberous roots are used as aphrodisiac, alterative, tonic, demulcent and diuretic. Ethanolic extracts of aerial parts possess anti-cancer properties.