Also known as California bay, California laurel, Oregon myrtle and pepperwood, the variety resembles Mediterranean bay laurel but has stronger flavor. It is a large hardwood tree inherent to coastal forests of California and coastal forests that extends to Oregon. It is native to California Floristic Province. It is the sole species in Umbellularia genus. Other common names for the species are pepperwood, cinnamon bush, spicebush, headache tree, peppernut tree, mountain laurel and balm of heaven. This broadleaf evergreen tree is 3 to 45 meters high, loose foliage in shade and round gum drop habit when in open. Leaves are…

Other names for American Spikenard are: Anis Sauvage, American Sarsaparilla, Aralia à Grappes, Aralia racemosa, Aralie à Grappes, Aralie Épineuse, Grande Salsepareille, Espinardo Americano, Indian Spikenard, Indian Root, Life-of-Man, Life of Man, American Spikenard, Old Man’s Root, Spignet, Pettymorell, Spignet, Salsepareille d’Amérique and Small Spikenard. Botanically known as Aralia racemosa, is a perennial bush generally grows to 10 feet high. American spikenard has tuberous, thick and whitish yellow branching rhizome and spongy has yellow colored latex. Generally, leaves are large which bears petite greenish white flowers. Fruits or berries are red or purple in color. This perennial herbaceous forb grows…

Coscinium fenestratum is a dioecious woody climber that belongs to Menispermaceae family and in India, it is native to the Western Ghats, especially in high rainfall wet evergreen and semi evergreen forests. It is considered to be a medicinal plant and its stem is used for Ayurvedic preparations. The species is ethno botanically used for treating various ailments such as skin diseases, ulcers, inflammation, jaundice, hypertension, snake bites and diabetes. Coscinium fenestratum is the source of crucial Ayurvedic raw drug daruharidra dating back to several centuries. Stem has been used for long in South India and Sri Lanka as a…

Chaulmoogra is a deciduous as well as evergreen tree that reaches 10 m (33 ft) tall. It has brownish and fissured bark. Branchlets are minutely velvet hairy and rounding. Leaves are simple, alternate on 0.7-2.2 cm (0.28-0.87 in) long stalks. Leaves are oblong to elliptic-oblong, 8-23 × 3.5-10 cm (3.1-9.1 × 1.4-3.9 in), tip long pointed, falling off, base narrow and margins are toothed, hairless and papery. Flowers form in short cymes or solitary, in leaf axils. Flowers have white petals followed by woody, round berry about 6-10 cm (2.4-3.9 in) across usually brown tomentose and black. It has numerous…

Sal also known as Shorea robusta, is an imperative non timber forest product that spreads across 10 million in India covering almost 14% of the total forest area of the country. It has eminent role in economics of some Indian states i.e. Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Sal is a deciduous tree which measures 50 meters high with stem circumference upto 5 m. In normal conditions, it attains the height of 18 to 32 meters with 1.5 to 2 meters girth. Stem is clean, cylindrical and straight with epimoric branches. Bark is dark brown. It requires the average temperature of…

Commiphora wightii commonly known as Indian bdellium-tree, guggul, gugal, gugul or Mukul myrrh tree, is a flowering plant that belongs to family Burseraceae producing a fragrant resin known as guggul, gugal or gugul used in incense and vedic medicine. It is found in Northern Africa, Central Asia and most common in Northern India. It favors arid and semi-arid climate and tolerates poor soil as well. It is well distributed in India, Asia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The general name is derived from Greek word “kominis” and “phora” which means gum bearer. Guggal is a shrub or small tree which is native…

Winged prickly ash botanically known as Zanthoxylum armatum, is a medicinal plant widely found in India from Kashmir to Bhutan at an altitudes upto 2500 meters and also found throughout North East India. It is also found in Taiwan, China, Philippines, Nepal, Pakistan, Malaysia and Japan at an altitude of 1300 to 1500 meters. The eight species of Zanthoxylum are Z. acanthopodium DC., Z. floribundaWall., Zanthoxylum armatum DC., Z. nepalense Babu, Z. oxyphyllum Edgew., Z. nitidum (Roxb.) DC., Z. simularis Hance and Z. tomentellum Hook. f. The customary locations of the species are valleys and thickets in the mountains, wasteland…

Pistacia integerrima, belonging to Anacardiaceae family, is a dioecious tree inherent to Asia and widely distributed in Pakistan, East Afghanistan, North West and West Himalaya to Kumaon growing at an altitude of 800 to 1900 meters. Some common names for the herb are zebrawood and crab’s claw. The plant has single stem with many branches and large pinnately compound leaves. Leaves are 25 cm long which consists of 2-6 pairs of lanceolate leaflets. Flowers are reddish arranged in panicles. Fruits are globular, purple to blue and about 4 to 6 mm diameter. Galls are rugose, horn shaped and hollow formed…

Canary grass, Phalaris canariensis, is a shrubby plant that belongs to Poaceae family. It is native to Mediterranean region. It is mostly cultivated in Argentina and Canada. It is regarded as a promising cereal for human consumption due to its nutrients and nutraceutical value as well as for industrial purposes. It is commercially grown in various parts of world for birdseed. The coarse grass has erect and hairless stems usually 2 to 6 feet (0.61 to 1.83 meters) tall. Ligule is membranous and prominent about ¼ inches (0.64 cm) long and rounded at apex. The tapering leaf blades are 3…

Turkish rhubarb with botanical name Rheum Palmatum belongs to rhubarb family. The root helps to stimulate activity in various body systems. It is used for at least 2000 years in Chinese traditional and alternative medicine. Rhubarb root was mentioned in Chinese medical text Divine Husbandman’s Classic of Materia Medica nearly two centuries before Christ. The herb is inherent to Western China, Northern Tibet and the Mongolian Plateau which is also cultivated extensively in other parts of the world. Roots are harvested in September-October and only when the plants are at least 6 years old for effectiveness. Root is a remedy…

Pulasan is a ultra-tropical and thrives in very humid regions between 360 and 1150 feet of altitude. The name pulasan is derived from Malay word “pulas” which means pilas. Fruit is opened through act of twisting the fruit with both hands so the name pulasan occurred. The tree is ornamental which attains the height of 10 to 15 m with short trunk 30 to 40 cm thick. Young branchlets are hairy and brown. Leaves are alternate, pinnate or odd-pinnate. Leaves are 17 to 45 cm long with 2-5 pairs of opposite or nearly opposite leaflets which are oblong or elliptic-lanceolate,…

Tragia involucrata L. also commonly known as Indian stinging nettle, is a perennial evergreen climbing herb having scattered stinging hair, elongate and slender stem. Leaves are simple, alternated and twining. Leaves are not cordate at base and are acute in uppermost. Flowers are shortly pedicellate, male flowers are many in upper part and female flowers are few in lower part. Flowers form in racemes in leaf axils. Fruit is a 3 lobed capsule that encompasses of smooth and globose seeds. The plant is native to outer Himalayan ranges eastwards to Assam, southwards to Travancore, throughout warmer regions of India. Tragia…

The species is generally known as undershrub in forests and wastelands throughout tropical and subtropical regions of India prevailing in the lower Himalayan regions and Gangetic plains. It is not found in open grassy lands but found as orchard weed. It is a medicinal herb which is used for Ayurvedic preparations such as Dashmoolakwaath, Dashmoolarishta and for treating nervous problems. It is used for treating piles, typhoid, asthma, inflammation, dysentery and bronchitis. It contains bioactive principals such as flavonoid, glycosides, lipids, pterocarpanoids, lactones, glycolipids and alkaloids. Flavonoids and alkaloids found in the roots and aerial parts of the plant possess…

Uraria picta is an annual woody erect herb that reaches 1 to 2.5 m height. The stems are woody at the base. Leaves are pinnately compound with 2-5 pairs of leaflets. During vegetative phase, leaves pairs occur without terminal leaflet. Leaflets of the lower leaf are ovate and measures 2-8 cm long and 2-3 cm broad and of upper leaves is 7-25 cm, 5-25 mm broad and ovate-lanceolate. Flowers are 35 to 75 in number on inflorescence (10-70 cm long on 0-5 cm long stalk) axis usually pink or purple on dense spike like racemes which is more than 1.5…

Karanja is a tree or shrub which is broadly distributed from India through central and south-eastern Asia, northern Australia and Indonesia. It stands in wide range of soils including saline soils. The plant occurs naturally in lowland forest on limestone and rocky outcrops on the coast. It is a medium sized fast growing tree growing 15 to 25 meters tall with drooping or spreading branching habit and broad crown. Bark is grey-brown or grey and smooth or with faint vertical fissures. Leaves are hairless and pinkish-red when young that turns to glossy green above and dull green with prominent veins…

Guarana is a climbing plant native to Amazon basin and common in Brazil. In 16th century, the plant was introduced by Felip Betendorf, Hernández, Oviedo, Cobo and other Spaniard chroniclers to European colonizers and to Europe. The plant belongs to Sapindaceae family and has large leaves or flowers clusters. The name guarana is derived from Guarani tribe which lives in Brazil. Guarana got commercialized by 1958. It has a crucial role in their culture and medical folklore. It is a cure for various complaints and a way to regain strength. Fruit is brown to red and contains black seeds which…

Sharpunkha is an erect or spreading annual or short lived perennial herb which is 40-80 cm tall and is widely distributed in countries such as India, China, Malay Peninsula, Sri Lanka and Hawaii. It naturally occurs in grassy fields, thickets, waste places and on ridges and along roadsides in Java. It is found near the shore in Hawaii. The herb is native to tropical Asia and also found from India and Sri Lanka to Southern China and through South-East Asia to tropical Australia and Polynesian Islands. It is cultivated pantropically. The plant is self-generating and perennial herb found throughout India.…

Genus psoralea belongs to family fabaceae that comprises 100 to 115 species basically distributed in South Africa, North and South America and Australia. Some are native to Asia and temperate Europe. It is found throughout the plains of India especially in semi-arid regions of Rajasthan & Eastern districts of Punjab be next to Uttar Pradesh. Also it could be found throughout India in Himalayas, Oudh, Dehradun, Bengal, Bundelkhand, Bombay, Deccan, Bihar and Karnataka. Several species are used as herbal medicine in India, China and other countries. Psoralea Corylifolia grows annually as an erect herb and the height range is between…

Saraca asoca is an indigenous plant commonly known as Ashoka Tree belongs to Caesalpinaceae family. It is mentioned in the oldest Indian text apart from Ayurveda. Ashoka tree is regarded as sacred and apart from Ramayana, it is also mentioned in Jainism and Buddhism. Stem bark is used in medicines as it contains chemicals such as flavonoids, glycoside, saponins, tannins, esters, alkanes and primary alcohols. It is used as traditional medicine for women associated problems such as leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, dysfunctional uterine bleeding and bleeding hemorrhoids. This rainforest tree is found all over India especially Kerala, Himalaya, Bengal and whole south…

Albizia lebbeck is one of several species which is found in various tropical regions with monsoon climates. Primarily it is distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of India, Myanmar, Andaman Island, Asia, Africa and Northern Australia. It grows in various climates with annual rainfall ranging from 600 to 2500 mm and also successfully grown in area with rainfall 400 mm. It is found upto 1600 m in Himalayan Valleys. This species is adaptable to wide ranges of soil types from acidic soils to alkaline & saline, eroded soils. The optimal temperature required for growth is from 19°C to 35°C. Albizia…

Common names for Terminalia chebula include Terminalia, Harida, Harada, Haritaki and Harar. Terminalia chebula is a deciduous tropical tree which grows to the height of 30 meters and 1 meter in trunk diameter. Though native to Asia but it is also found in Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, Egypt and Turkey and also in Pakistan and Yunnan, Guangdong, Tibet and Guangxi province of China. In India, it is found in deciduous forests of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. The tree has cracked, thick and black bark. Leaves are oval, opposite or…

Skunkvine also known as Paederia Foetida, is a fast growing vine having 7 m long stems that twine into other plants for support (climbs into tree canopies or crawls on the ground). The plant is grown in East Asia. Usually, it is found to an altitude of 1800 m in Himalayan region. It has opposite, narrowly oval leaves and gray-purple flowers. Probably, Skunkvine is a weed as it is naturalized in various areas and seeds are dispersed easily by birds. Paederia foetida was introduced from Asia to Hernando Country, Florida as a probable fiber crop. It was reported as troublesome…

Inula racemosa is used in traditional medicine throughout the world especially Europe and East Asia. Rhizome is used in Tibetan medicine and possesses bitter, sweet and acrid taste having neutral potency. It is used for treating contagious fevers, pain in upper body especially between neck and shoulders. The plant extract and its isolated active constituents is effective against acute enteritis, abdominal pain, bacillary dysentery, tonic and expectorant. The plant is used with other plant extracts for treating various health conditions such as angina, hyperlipidemia and ischemic heart diseases. The active constituents isolated from the plantis sesquiterpene lactones Alantolactone and isoalantolactone…

Saussurea costus is a herb belonging to family Asteraceae family which comprises almost 1000 genera and 30,000 species that is distributed more or less throughout the globe. About 177 genera and 1052 species are found in India. The genus Saussurea DC is composed of 300 species in the world and about 61 species are available in India. It is an erect, robust herb which is generally found at the elevations of 8,200 to 9,800 ft (2,500 to 3,000 m) in India (Himalayas, Jammu, Kashmir, Kishenganga Valley and Western Ghats). Its flower heads are bluish-purple, stalkless and 2 to 5 clustered…

Doctorbush is a multipurpose medicinal herb of family Plumbaginaceae. It is native to South Asia and is distributed throughout most of the tropics and subtropics. It grows in deciduous woodland, savannas and scrublands from sea level upto 2000 meters altitude. In India, it is widely distributed from Central India to West Bengal, Southern India Maharashtra. Doctorbush is a perennial herb which attains the height of 0.5-2 m (1.6-6.6 ft). Leaves are simple, alternate, elliptical or oblong, ovate-lanceolate measuring 0.5–12 cm long with a tapered base and hairy margin. Stipules are absent and petioles are 0–5 mm long, narrow with small…

Embelia ribes Burm. also known as False Black pepper, is a large woody tropical forest scandent shrub with slender branches and glanddotted leaves. Stems are whitish gray and roots are brownish gray with hairy reddish roots. Fruits are small, smooth and succulent which encompasses reddish seeds that run slightly black. It is considered to be carminative, digestive, laxative and useful for treating pneumonia and dropsy. Dried fruits are used to prepare medicines and used as anti-carminative, anti-helminthic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-astringent and anti-diuretic. False Black pepper is the red listed climbing shrub found in semi-evergreen to evergreen forests of India, Malaysia,…

Symplocos racemosa Roxb. is an evergreen Ayurvedic plant with broad crown and stems that grows to the height of 6 meters. It belongs to Symplocaceae family which comprises of one genus Symlocos and is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Australia, America and Malaysia. It is found in north and east India throughout Himalayas. The plant is well known for its medicinal values of its stem bark in traditional medicine including Unani and Ayurveda. The stem bark is used to cure gynaecolgical problems, blood diseases, and inflammation, leprosy and eye diseases. It is used for treating dysentery, kapha,…

Wrightia antidysenterica is a small, compact and semi-deciduous shrub measuring 1.2 to 2 meters high and spreads 1.5 meters. It is compact and bushy having moderate growth rate. The short and divaricate branches turn to chocolaty brown as it ages and covered with ovate and acuminate, dark green leaves about 2.5 to 6 cm long and are oppositely arranged. Flowers are five petaled, white, tubular, star shaped having yellow centers form in corymb like cymes at the end of branches. Flowers have frilly corona at the throat and yellow center of stamens. The flower blooms throughout the year in hardiness…

Indian Snakeroot is a species of flower which belongs to milkweed family Apocynaceae. It is native to Indian subcontinent and East Asia. The root of the plant is used in Asian medicine that includes traditional Ayurvedic medicine. It has active ingredients which have been identified through various studies and primary psychoactive components found to be rescinnamine, reserpine and deserpidine. Rauvolfia serpentine root has been used for centuries in India. It possess sedative and hypnotic properties. It is found in tropical Himalayas in lower Hills of Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Jammu and Uttaranchal and at moderate altitude in North Bihar, Sikkim, Uttar…

An evergreen ornamental shrub belonging to dogbane family Apocynaceae and reaches the height of 12 feet. It is an exclusive species which is classified in genus Nerium. Native to Mediterranean region, it could also be found in Southern Europe and Southwest Asia. It is naturalized in Morocco, Mauritania and Portugal eastward through Mediterranean region and Sahara, Southern Asia, Arabian peninsula and as fat East as Yunnan in southern parts of China. It prefers warm subtropical regions and is extensively grown as ornamental plant in landscapes, parks and along roadsides. It ordinarily occurs around dry stream beds. The plant thrives in…