**1. Introduction**

Historically, plants were used for numerous purposes for mankind in general, inter alia, feeding and catering, culinary spices, medicine, various forms of cosmetics, symbols in worship and for a variety of ornamental goods. They are still being used for these purposes. The traditional medicines are sold in market places and prescribed by traditional healers at their home [1] particularly in the rural areas where herbal medicine is the main source of the healthcare system. South Africa is blessed with a vast variety of plants since it has such a large diversity of more than 20,000 types of species. The research and scientific community find this to be a great source of interest [2]. Since the 1990s, great interest is being shown in plants that can be used as important sources of new medicines and herbs, which have become mainstream throughout Africa [3].

It is estimated that three quarters of the world of mankind relies on herbal and traditional medicine as a basis for primary healthcare [4]. It was discovered that between 12 and 15 million South Africans still rely on more than 700 indigenous types of plants for the supply of their traditional herbal medicines [5]. Up to 60% of the South African population consults one of an estimated 200,000 traditional healers in rural areas [6]. These herbal medicines which are extracted from plants and used for medicinal purposes often result in acute toxicity. For example, it is estimated that between 8000 and 20,000 people die every year in South Africa due to the fact that these medicinal plants are used incorrectly [7, 8]. The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] indicates that both serious and moderate adverse events from many botanical and others traditional medicinal products are significantly underreported, and that the annual number of such cases is at least 50,000 each year [9, 10].

Different research studies to elucidate and validate the ethnobotanical value of medicinal plants have been conducted and reported by investigators world-wide, with findings that were established from the use of various methods, and also under diverse conditions.

In this review study, five native Asparagus species (namely A*sparagus laricinus Burch.*, *Asparagus africanus Lam.*, *Asparagus officinalis L.*, *Asparagus racemosus Willd.* and *Asparagus densiflorus Kunth) Jessop*) were evaluated for their historical, etymological, morphological, phytochemical and pharmacological aspects. The findings of this review study are summarized, and the medicinal properties of the chosen Asparagus species are documented in this review study.
