Explore the Medicinal Plants		Explore the Wilderness
Trees and Orchids

 

Explore the Medicinal Plant Wealth of Van Vihar at Potter's Hill

“Traditional Knowledge or ‘local knowledge’ is a record achievement in comprehending the complexities of life and survival in often unfriendly environments. This knowledge was obtained as part of the great human experiment of survival and development.” It provides the basis for problem solving strategies for local communities. Traditional Himalayan medicine is one such example, which has affected the lives of poor people around the globe. “According to an estimate of the World Health Organisation, approximately 80% of the people in developing countries depend on traditional medicine for primary health care needs.  

Since time immemorial, people have gathered plant and animal resources for their needs. These include edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices, gums, game, fodder, fibres used for construction of shelter and housing, clothing or utensils, and plant or animal products for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural uses. Among these uses, medicinal plants play a central role, not only as traditional medicines used in many cultures, but also as trade commodities which meet the demand of often distant-markets. In simple words Medicinal Plants are those plant species, which are commonly used in the treatment and prevention of specific ailments and diseases. These plants have traditionally occupied an important position in our socio-cultural lives, especially in the rural areas.  

We in Himachal have a rich repository of medicinal wealth, which occupies an important place in the Vedas [Sanjivni]. It has been the abode of Rishis and Munies, like Vyasa, Bhardwaja, Kalidas and the legendary Pandavas. Ayurveda has had its origin in Himachal, with the first ever seminar being held here. (Charak Samhita). Jantras, mantras coupled with herbs are still being used to cure peelia, snake/scorpion bites, rabies, bone fractures, gangrene, body pains, eczema. Childbirth, etc.  

Potters Hill is a place, rich in medicinal plant diversity. Van Vihar and its surroundings with sub temperate to temperate forest has a collection of more than 50 species of minor and major medicinal herbs. It was felt opportune to compile a few medicinal plants to educate the general community in large. A small but much needed gesture to disperse knowledge and lay emphasis on the sustainable use of our natural resources.  

Punica granatum L.
Family: Punicaceae
Common Names: Wild Pomegranate, Daroo, Daran, Darmu.
Large shrub or small tree, often armed. Flowers are bright red, tubular having numerous stamens. Fruit being globular with a crown like appendage.
Medicinal Use: Paste of its green leaves is applied on eyes for conjunctivitis. Leaf juice is given during dysentery. Whereas, its fruit rind is useful in chronic dysentery and diarrhoea. Bark of its roots and stems is used against tapeworms. Seed pulp is also used as laxative. Fruit rind is used as an astringent in diarrhoea and dysentery. An important ingredient of Lavan Bhaskar Churan.

 

Berberis aristata DC.
Family: Berberidaceae.
Common Names: Kashmal, Kamoshar, Kashmbal, Rasonth, Daru-Haldi, Daru-Haridra, Kando.
Thorny deciduous shrub with pale rough furrowed bark. Wood and roots yellow from inside. Leaves fascicled in the axils of simple or branched spines. Flowers yellow in compound racemes. Fruits grey white when young, bluish when ripe.
Medicinal Use: Its properties are analogous to that of turmeric. Useful in curing various skin diseases, diarrhoea, jaundice and eye affections. It is also used in chronic uterine troubles, piles and in cholera. Dry fruits act as a mild laxative for children.

Dioscorea deltoidea Wall. ex Kunth.
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Common Names: Wild Yam, Shingli-Mingli, Kinz.
An extensive rhizomatic climber with stems twining to the left. Rhizomes are horizontal, greyish brown with rigid scattered roots on them. Leaves are stalked, cordate and acute. Fruits three winged.
Medicinal Use: An important plant for the pharmaceutical industry, used mainly as a source of steroidal harmones. Used in the preparation of injections and tablets for use in modern medicines like, birth-control-pills. It is also used to treat rheumatic pains, allergies and certain ophthalmic disorders.

 

Plantago Major Wall. Ex Kunth.  
Family: Plantaginaceae.
Common Names: Psyllium or Indian Plantain, Common Plantain, Jangli Isabgol.
“Plantago” is derived from a Latin word meaning “sole of the foot.” A Perennial plant, which sprouts anew from its fibrous taproot  around mid-spring. The oval, ribbed, short-stemmed leaves form basal rosettes, which tend to hug the ground. The flower stalks bear densely packed greenish white flowers each of which will become a small capsule-like seedpad containing numerous seeds.
Medicinal Uses: Has been used as a cough remedy and a laxative. The broad leaves can be used as a remedy for wounds and inflamed areas, and in rural areas are used to treat insect bites and bruises. A tea made from either the leaves or the whole plant and taken internally has been used to treat lung disorders and stomach problems. This same tea may be used as a mouthwash to treat sours in the mouth and toothaches.

Taraxacum officinale Wigg.  
Family: Asteraceae
Common Names: Common Dandelion, Dugdapheni, Dudhli, Dudal, Kanphul.
This herb is common throughout the Temperate Himalaya. Small herbaceous plant with milky juice and a bright golden yellow solitary flower. Leaves all basal, variable in shape, irregularly pinnatifid and toothed. Pappus while, hairy.
Medicinal Uses: Useful remedy for chronic disorders of the kidneys and liver, therefore it is an important ingredient of liver tonics and other preparations. Besides regulating blood sugars, it is also useful for gallstones, jaundice and muscular rheumatism. In Chinese system of medicine it is used against breast cancer.

 

Valeriana jatamansi Jones.  
Family: Valerianaceae
Common Names: Indian Valerian, Mushkbala, Naknihani, Nihani, Sugandhbala, Tagger.
Erect pubescent, aromatic herbs with big demand from the Dhoop industry. Rootstock thick, horizontal with thick descending fibrous roots. Basal leaves long stalked, ovate-orbiculate, toothed or wavy-margined and pilose, stem leaves few, much smaller. Flowers white or pink tinged, in terminal corymbs, on nearly leafless stems; fruit crowned with a persistent pappus like calyx.
Medicinal Uses: Used in Ayurveda for multiple preparations. The drug valerian is obtained from the roots, which is regarded as aphrodisiac, antiseptic, cardiac stimulant, carminative, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, nervine tonic, ophthalmic and sedative. The crushed leaves are applied to the forehead in extreme headache.

Prunus cerasoides D. Don.
Family: Rosaceae
Common Names: Himalayan Wild Cherry, Padmakha, Pajja, Paddam.
A medium sized attractive, deciduous tree. It is the only flowering tree in winters, January – February. Flowers pinkish White. Bark is smooth, brown. Fruit is ovoid, yellow, turning red on ripening.
Medicinal Uses: All members of this genus produce hydrogen cyanide, a toxin. This toxin is found mainly in the leaves and seed and is bitter in taste. It is usually present in too small a quantity to do any harm. In small amounts this exceedingly poisonous compound stimulates respiration, improve digestion and gives a sense of well-being. It is also claimed to be beneficial in the treatment of cancer.

 

Oxalis corniculata L.  
Family: Oxalidaceae
Common Names: Wood Sorrel, Alori, Changeri, Khat-mith, Umalori.
Common herb along trails and open slopes. Stems spreading, hairy, rooting at nodes. Leaves with three heart shaped hairy leaflets. Flowers yellow, solitary or 2-5 n stalked axillary umbels.
Medicinal Uses: Aerial parts of the herb are ground to a fine paste with black pepper and applied to boils, abscesses, wounds and weeping eczems. Leaf juice is also used to cure eye cataract and warts removal.

Thymus linearisL.  
Family: Lamiaceae
Common Names: Wild Thyme, Banajwain, Jangli ajwain, Masho, Hasha, Pangdumna.
Small spreading, extremely aromatic, often forming dense tufted mats. Leaves numerous, tiny, elliptic oblong, entire, gland dotted. Flowers in small whorls of purple to pink, crowded into short dense terminal clusters.
Medicinal Uses: The leaves and floral shoots are used for the treatment of whooping cough, epilepsy, urine and menstrual problems. Its infusion is used in the treatment of itching and skin eruptions. But the most popular use in the hills is the stomach complaints, cough and cold. It forms an important ingredient of gargles, mouthwashes and toothpastes.

 

Viola pilosa Blume
Family: Violaceae
Common Names: Violet, Banafsha, Banaksha.
Small hairy herbs with short tufted rootstock. Stems short, but distinct, often producing runners. Leaves ovate-cordate, crenate-serrate, stipules present. Flowers violet, blue or at times white.
Medicinal Uses: The entire plant is taken and boiled in milk till it become gelatinous. Bandage is made from it and used as poultice for wounds. It is boiled in water and the decoction taken for relief in cough, cold and chest congestion.

Duschesnia indica (Andrews) Focke  
Family: Rosaceae
Common Names: Wild strawberry, Bulbaso, bhuin, aakhe, kophal.
The small plants bearing bright-red fruits are commonly found at cool and shady locations in wastelands as well as in the cultivated fields. The plant resembles the strawberry to a great extent. It has trifoliate leaves like its cousin the strawberry, and also spreads via stolons, but this common ground cover has yellow flowers. The flowering, starts from the third week of March and continues up to the end of June. Fruiting starts from the beginning of April and continues up to the end of August.
Medicinal Uses: Children eat the small fruits. They are, not popular, as they lack sweetness and have a flat taste. No specific medicinal value, but owing to the fibrous nature of the fruit it aids digestion.

Hypericum perforatum I.  
Family: Hypericaceae
Common Names: St. John’s Wort, Bassant.
Perforatum is Latin for “perforated”. The leaves of Hypericum perforatum, when held to the light, reveal translucent dots, giving the impression that the leaf is perforated. The dots are not holes in the leaf, but a layer of colorless essential plant oils and resin. The flowers are a bright yellow-orange. The petals are peppered with black dots. When the black dots are rubbed between the fingers, the fingers become red. This species is being cultivated commercially.
Medicinal Uses: Used in sunburn oil as cosmetic protection to skin. Oil obtained from its fresh flowers, in combination of olive oil is used externally for sores, wounds, ulcers and swellings. Also used in hair-restorer preparations.

Solanum surattense Burm.f.
Family: Solanaceae
Common Names: Yellow-berried nightshade, Kanthikari, Chitrankaayi, Kandankathiri.
Herbs, prostate, prickly, stems zigzag, Leaves simple, prickly, ovate or elliptic, lobed, base acute, apex obtuse. Flowers violet, in few flowered cymes. Berries globose, green turning golden yellow.
Medicinal Uses: Fruits eaten as an anthelmintic and for indigestion. Root is an expectorant, used in Ayurvedic medicine for cough, asthma, chest pain. Also used for flatulence, sore throat, and toothache. Has high concentration of solasodine, a starting material for the manufacture of cortisone and sex hormones.

 

Prunella vulgaris L.  
Family: Lamiaceae
Common Names: Common Self-Heal, All Heal, Austakhandus, Ustakhandus.
Small annual herb of moist locations, with numerous, spreading or ascending stems. Leaves opposite, ovate to obtuse, hairy. Flowers bright blue-violet, at times white or light pink, in dense cylindrical terminal heads. Broad ovate, purplish, overlapping bracts, with purplish calyx, lies below the flower head.
Medicinal Uses: Used in fever and cough. Leaves coated with castor oil, warmed over fire are applied to cure painful piles. Infusion is used as mouthwash. A German saying goes as “He needs neither physician nor surgeon, that hath self-heal to help himself”.

Solena amplexicaulis (Lam.) Gandhi  
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Common Names: Creeping cucumber, Mohkari, Tarali, Van Kakri.
Scadent herb with tuberous roots. Leaves polymorphic. Flowers small, yellow. Fruit oblong, indehiscent, red when ripe, edible.
Medicinal Uses: Root is stimulant and purgative. Leaf has anti-inflamatory properties as regards rashes. It helps maintain a healthy skin and is an important ingredient of skin conditioning lotions.

 

 

Rubus ellipticus Sm.  
Family: Asteraceae
Common Names: Himalayan Yellow Raspberry, Golden Raspberry, Ainselu, Hinsar, Rasbhari.
Stout evergreen shrub with prickly stems. Leaves thick about 3-4 inches wide, divided into roughly three equal robes with toothed leaf margins and inch-long leaf stalks that are densely covered with prickles. The flowers are white and occurs in short, terminal panicles. The fruit is yellow, edible and highly sought after.
Medicinal Uses: It is relished in summers, to promote perspiration and urination. It also controls dysentery and being fibrous it aids in digestion.