The Asparagus genus, of the family Asparagaceae with up to 300 species native from Siberia to southern Africa, is best known for the garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis), cultivated as a vegetable for its succulent spring stalks. Several African species are grown as ornamental plants.

Asparagus racemosus, synonymously known as Asparagus saundersiae or Protasparagus racemosus and commonly known as Shatavari, is a South African indigenous species that also occurs in southern Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, to northern Australia. Asparagus racemosus is a climber having stems up to 4 m long. Its roots are both fibrous and tuberous. 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. Shatavari is used in Indian traditional medicine.