Astavarga plants - threatened medicinal herbs of the North-West Himalaya

Abstract

Astavarga eight medicinal plants viz., Kakoli (Roscoea purpurea Smith), Kshirkakoli (Lilium polyphyllum D. Don), Jeevak (Crepidium acuminatum (D. Don) Szlach), Rishbhak (Malaxis muscifera (Lindl.) Kuntze), Meda (Polygonatum verticillatum(Linn.) Allioni), Mahameda(P. cirhifolium (Wall.) Royle), Riddhi (Habenaria intermediaD. Don) and Vriddhi (H. edgeworthii Hook. f. ex Collett). All of these plants have their natural habitats in Himalaya partic u- larly the North-West Himalaya in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh between elevations of 1500 and 4000 m asl. Their natural habitats are sp ecific in ecological environment and hence these occur only in small pockets . Astavarga is important ingredient of various Ayurvedic formulations such as Chavyanprasha. Although some work has been done on identification of medicinal plants mentioned under Astavarga, but still there is need to identify the true re p- resentatives of this Astavarga group. The present communication deals with the taxonomical and medicinal properties of these eight medicinal plants.