MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NORTHEAST INDIA
The north-Eastern part of India, a lush green side of the country, which covers 23.75% of the total forest of the country.
Northeast India has India’s richest reservoir of plant diversity and supports around 50% of India’s total plant diversity (Mao & Hynniewta, 2000). North east India is popular for it’s medicinal plants. There are a wide variety of medicinal plants found in North east India.
Below I have shown the list of medicinal plants found according to the states-
1. Acorus calamus L. Vacha All eight states in marshy places through rhizome cuttings. Rhizome in respiratory diseases, nerve tonic.
2. Angiopteris evecta (Forst.) Hoff. Ghora Top/ Bom Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura in Natural habitat of occrence through rhizome. Rhizome in dysentery
3. Aquilaria malaccensis Lam. Agaru Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in plains through seed germination. Heart wood stimulant, tonic.
4. Cissampelos pareira L. Ambashtha/ Patha Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura on slopes of upper reaches having climbing support through seeds Root in fever, purgative, cough urinary troubles.
5. Curcuma caesia Roxb. Narkachura Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya under shades and away from water logging places through rhizome cuttings. Rhizome stimulant, carminative, sprain.
6. Desmotrichum fimbriatum Bl. Jivanti Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim as epiphyte through rootlet cuttings. Whole plant stimulant, tonic.
7. Dioscorea bulbifera L. Varahi kand Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura through bulbils. Tuber in piles, dysentery.
8. D. pentaphylla L. Varahi kand All states preferably through bulbils Tuber in dispersing swelling tonic.
9. Elaeocarpus sphericus (Gaertn) Schum Rudraksha Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura up to 500 a.m.s.l. elevation through seeds. Seeds in epileptic fits.
10. Embelia ribes Burm. f. Vai bidang Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya on slopes having climbing support of trees through seeds. Fruits antihelmintic, tonic.
11. Gmelina Arborea Roxb. Gambhari All 8 states in foot hills up to 500 elevation through seeds. Root bark in gonorrhea, cough as one of the constituent of Dasmula Quath.
12. Gynocordia odorata R.Br. Chalmoogra Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura up to 500 msl elevation on slopes and waste land through seeds. Seed oil in leprosy and other skin disease.
13. Hemidesmus indicus L. Ananta Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya under shades and moist places having climbing support through stem cuttings and seeds. Stem Diaphoretic, diuretic, tonic. 588 Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Table 1 Contd.
14. Homalomena aromatica (Spreng.) Schott. Sugandhamantr i Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya in foot hills under shades through rhizome cuttings. Aromatic, stimulant.
15. Hydnocarpus kurzii (King.) Warb. Tubaraka Arunachal Pradesh Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura through seeds. Seed oil in leprosy and other skin diseases.
16. Kaempheria galanga L. Chandramulika Arunachal Pradesh, Assam in foot hills and plain under shades through rhizome cuttings. Rhizome stimulant, cough.
17. Mesua ferrea L. Nagakeshara Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura as avenue plant through seeds. Flower astringent used in cough.
18. Oroxylum indicum Vent. Shyonaka Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya in foot hills on slopes through seeds. Bark bitter tonic, in rheumatism.
19. Rauvolfia serpentina Benth. Sarpagandha Arunachal Pradesh, Assam in sandy loam soil Root insomnia, hypertension.
20. Saraca asoca (Roxb.) de Wilde Ashoka Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura in foot hills through seeds. Stem bark uterine tonic.
21. Smilax glabra Roxb. Chobchini Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland under shades having climbing support through seeds and roots. Aphrodisiac, tonic.
22. Solanum anguivi Lam. Brahati Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura near by houses and waste land through seeds. Root carminative, expectorant.
23. Stephania japonica (Thunb.) Miers Rajpatha Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya Mizoram, and Tripura in foot hills preferably waste land having climbing support through seeds. Tuber bitter used in fever, urinary diseases.
24. Tylophora indica (Burm. f.) Merr. Dama Buti Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya on upper reaches having climbing support through seeds. Leaf in Asthma
25. Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. Ex Royle Atish Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim through seeds. Root aphrodisiac, tonic.
26. Berberis aristata DC. Daruharidra Arunachal Pradesh through seeds. Root in jaundice, malaria, eye affection.
27. Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. Pashan Bheda Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim through transplantation and seeds. Root tonic in fever, diarrhea and pulmonary diseases.
28. Coptis teeta Wall. Mamira Arunachal Pradesh through roots within the place of occurrence through seeds. Root tonic in jaundice and diabetes.
29. Illicium griffithii Hook. f. Lisi Arunachal Pradesh through stem cuttings through stem cuttings. Fruits stimulant, carminative.
30. Nardostachys jatamansi DC. Jatamansi Sikkim through seed within occurrence place through seeds and root cuttings. Root, aromatic bitter tonic.
31. Paris polyphylla Smith Mithi Vacha Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim through root. Root stimulant, tonic.
32. Picrorhiza kurrooa Royal ex Benth. Katuki Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim through in-situ protection through stolon and seeds. Root bitter purgative in jaundice and malaria.
33. Rheum australe D.Don Revandchini Arunachal Pradesh through root cutting and seeds. Rhizome and root purgative, astringent, tonic.
34. Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Flem. Manjishtha Arunachal Pradesh through stem cutting and seeds. Root tonic, astringent.
35. Sinopodophyllum hexandru m (Royle) T.S.Ying Papra, Himalayan Mayapple Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim through In situ protection through seeds. Root hepatic stimulant, purgative.
36. Swertia chirayita (Wall.) L. Chiraita Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim through seeds. Whole plant bitter tonic, laxative in fever, malaria, jaundice.
37. Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Talisa Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland through stem cuttings. Leaf in cough, cancer.
38. Valeriana jatamansi Jones Tagara Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland through root cutting and seeds. Root stimulant, carminative, tonic.
39. Zanthoxylum armatum Roxb. Timbru Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim through seeds. Seeds and bark aromatic tonic, dental disorders and also in rheumatism.
Less Harmful:
The production process of Modern allopathy medicines and plant-based medicines are poles apart. Medicines made with plants are less toxic or harmful than other drugs in most cases. Sometimes mainstream chemically designed medicines show certain kinds of allergies. However, plant based medicines require a prolonged period to show their effectiveness.
Economical aspects:
Northeast India has a huge aspect to grow the medicinal plant market. It has that potential to export plant base medicines to the world market as India is the home of Ayurveda. Ofcourse the world conveys their attention to Indian concepts of living, whether it is yoga or vegetarianism. So, possibly in near future, it can lead the medicine market too.
Bottom line:
At the end of the day, it is up to us whether we adopt it or not. But the tribes from this land has can easily identify the plants and they treat certain diseases from these plants. They have been practicing this from the past, which maybe has not been identified yet. It is difficult to explain, so many secrets lies in the woods of Northeast India.
Reference:
i. Making medicinal plant wealth work for Northeast India by Dr Ashish Kar.
ii. Conservation and cultivation of threatened and high valued medicinal plants in North East India by Rama Shankar and M. S. Rawat.
