ऊर्ध्वकण्टिका – Asparagus filicinus

 

Name – महाशतावरी

Botanical name – Asparagus filicinus

Description – Tall, erect plant with stout rootstock, aerial stem flexuous, fistular, much-branched, lower branches spreading, upper internodes short, smooth, unarmed; leaves minute scales, often spinescent, bearing in their axils tufts of green needle-like or flattened branchlets called cladodes; cladodes 0.25-0.6 cm long; flowers axillary, small or minute, solitary or in racemes, sessile or short-pedicelled, pedicels 0.6-1.2 cm long, jointed at middle; berries globose, 0.6-0.8 cm in diameter; seeds black.

Chemical Constituents-

Use – Astringent, tonic and diuretic. EtOH(50%) extract of plant: anti-protozoal, spasmogenic; Plant-extract: anti-fungal.