| Gen
info
Genus Asparagus of the
Liliaceae family is of medical importance because of its steroidal sapogenins
used as precursors for many pharmacologically active steroids.
Botany
Asparagus fern is a slender, climbiing or
ascending, branched perennial, with round, green and wiry stems, with
very numerous slender branches and branchlets that spread horizontally, forming triangular
fernlike sprays, with the upper internodes 1 to 2 mm long. Leaves (cladodes) are setaceous, very slender, 3 to 5
mm long, ascending or spreading, 6 to 12 in a fascicle. Flowers are
small, perfect, solitary at the ends of the branches, with very short pedicels and about 1 mm long.
Perianth-segments are about 2 mm long and spreading. Fruit is a purple and black ovoid berry.
Distribution
Cultivated for ornamental
use.
Constituents
and properties
• Study isolated
furostanol glycosides from Asparagus plumosus leaves.
Uses
Oramental
The cuts sprays of the
asparagus fern are ornamental favorites among florists for its beauty
and lasting quality.
Folkloric
Not known in the Philippines for its medicinal application.
In Mexico
a decoction of the branches are used for pulmonary infections; decoction of roots used as a diuretic.
In Tanzania, the Lobedu drink a cold infusion
of leaves and stem for malaria.
Studies
• Phytochemicals / Glycosides: (1) A methanolic extract study of leaves of A plumosus yielded two new furostanol glycosides (2) Study yielded three spirostanol glycosides from the leaves.
Availability
Cultivated for ornmental use. |
