Shatavari

Asparagus racemosus, called shatavari or asparagus fern, is a species of asparagus native from Africa through southern Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, to northern Australia. It grows one to two metres tall and prefers gravelly, rocky soils high up in piedmont plains, at 1,300 to 1,400 metres. It is a climber with stems up to four metres long and both fibrous and tuberous roots. The plant has small pine-needle-like phylloclades, which are uniform and shiny green, minute white flowers on short spiky stems, and blackish-purple globular berries. The page says shatavari is used in Indian traditional medicine for menstrual, pregnancy and other health benefits, and that high-quality clinical evidence for this is limited. Its constituents include steroidal saponins, mucilage and alkaloids, and the roots are boiled for an external wash by Aboriginal people of the Moyle River area.