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Ethnobotanical
Leaflets 12: 1043-53. 2008. Floristic
and Medicinal Uses of Some Plants of Chandaka
Denudated *Kambaska Kumar Behera, *Santilata Sahoo and **Sanjukta Patra *P.G. Dept.of Botany,
Utkaluniversity, Vanivihar, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.India, 751004 Email:kambaska@yahoo.co.in ** Dept .of Biotechnology, Issued ABSTRACT The present paper reports 17 plant species belonging to
13 families, mostly used for various disease and disorders by the local
people and herbal healer of Chandaka areas of Key words: Phytotherapeutic claims, Herbal healer, Aliments and disorders. INTRODUCTION Use
of plant based drugs and chemicals for curing various ailments and personal
adornment is as old as human civilization. In Ancient ethnic communities around the world had learnt to utilize their
neighborhood herbal flora for various curative as well as offensive purposes
(Subramoniam and Pushpangadan,
1995). Due to lack of literacy, their knowledge on plants developed often at
the cost of their dear life through centuries old experience could not be
perfectly documented and it had rather descended from one generation to
another as a domestic cultural heritage. As the ethnic groups migrated from
place to place in search of their livelihood, their folklore knowledge also
became fragmented and traveled with them often with ‘additions and deletions . Their findings in course of time have become
basic leads for chemical, pharmacological, clinical and biochemical
investigations, which ultimately gave birth to drug discovery. The present
paper is an attempt to collect all the information available on floristic and
medicinal uses of plants of Chandaka denudated
forest patches of STUDY Bhubaneswar, the new capital of Orissa, is situated 65 km away from Bay of Bengal at an altitude 25.9 meters and Latitude of 25 o 15' North and longitude of 85 o 52' West. Prior to 1950 the present new Capital of Bhubaneswar was under a rich forest cover known as Chandaka reserve forest Cunningham, A. (1988)., Smith, A. (1895). , Mander, M. (1998). , Boufford, D.E. (2001). Dembner, S. (1993). Anonymous.(1998) , Das.G. K. and Oudhia.P.(2000)., Oudhia. P.(1999a). Symmonds, R. (1998). Nedoluzhko, V.A. (1984 ). At present around the Chandaka reserve forest is covered with massive official buildings, institution, and residential colonies. .The relics of latest erstwhile forest is found at a distance of 10 km from the state capital . During the construction of new capital the trees along with their stumps were removed including the shrubs and the annual weeds . During last 50 year their has been a great change in the distribution of many flora including some medicinal flora . Cunningham, A.B. (1991). Ellis, C.G. (1986) .The objective of present study is to study the floristic and medicinal use of plants around the denudated forest patches and their distribution. Materials and Methodology A literature survey was carried out on the study area before the field work started (Das and Misra, 1987; Das and Misra, 1988a; Das and Misra, 1988b, Hemadri and Rao, 1989; Hemadri, 1991; Dash, 1994; Das and Misra, 2000). Most of the works were based on surveys types. Very few works were in the field of medicinal use and floristic studies. The present work is the outcome of extensive survey of different denudated forest patches of Chandaka reserve forest and to collect information on the medicinal uses of different plant species for different disorders. During field work, interviews were conducted with local knowledgeable villagers, the herbal healer called ‘Vaidyas’ (local physicians in Indian System of Medicine), old woman and medicinal plant vendors. Plant specimens were collected and identified with local flora (Saxena and Brahmam, 1996). The medicinal value and taxonomy of each plant was enumerated in the following pattern: a) Binomial ; b) Local name c) Family; d) Habit and habitat ; e) Floristic ; e) Medicinal use; and f) Time of fruiting and flowering Results and Discussion
The data on floristic and medicinal uses of plants for various disease and disorders was collected from the local inhabitants of Chandak denudated forest patches , and analyzed. The enumeration and utilization of these plants are described below. ENUMERATIONS OF PLANTS 1. Abelmoschus moschatus
Medik ORIYA NAME : Takabhendi FAMILY : Malvaceae HABIT
& HABITAT An erect,
annual herb, found growing as a wild in the hilly and tribal regions of Orissa , also cultivated throughout the state . PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A
hirsute or hispid, herb; leaves polymorphous, lower leaves ovate, acute;
upper leaves palmately 3-7 lobed, lobes serrate or
irregularly toothed, hairy on both surfaces; flowers bright yellow with
purple centre, large, usually solitary axillary,
sometimes in few- flowered racemes ; capsules ovate, acute, hispid ; seeds many, sub-reniform, black, musk-scented. Flowering and Fruiting : November to January MEDICINAL
USES: 1. The
seeds are valued medicinally for their diuretic, antiseptic, cooling , tonic, carminative and aphrodisiac demulcent and
stomachic properties. 2. A
decoction or infusion or tincture of seeds is useful in nervous debility,
hysteria and other nervous disorders. 2.
Abrus precatorius L. ORIYA NAME : Runja FAMILY : Fabaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
climbing shrub, found on hedges near villages and also in the forest track. PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A
deciduous climbing shrub with glabrescent, mostly greenish yellow branches;
leaves, pari-pinnate; leaflets ovate, obovate or oblong; inflorescence rigid, thick, strongly
falcate; flowers crowded, sub-sessile, pale purple to yellowish; pods
rectangular, bulgy; seeds ovoid, scarlet with a black spot round the hilum, or black with a white spot, or uniformly black or
white, glossy. Flowering : August-October Fruiting :December - January MEDICINAL
USES 1. The extract of the root together with the root extract of 'satawar' (Asparagus racemosus Willd.) and plant of Nirmuli (Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.) is given one tsp, thrice a day, for three days after menstruation to check conception. 2.Two seeds of white variety are soaked overnight in 20 ml of water and swallowed along with water, empty stomach on the 4th day of menstruation to avoid conception for two years. 3.
Achyranthes
aspera L.. ORIYA NAME : Apamaranga FAMILY : Amaranthaceae
HABIT
& HABITAT Herb,
commonly found as a weed of waysides and waste places throughout plains of Orissa and through out PLANT DESCRIPTION An erect
or procumbent, annual or perennial herb; stems angular, ribbed, simple or branched
from the base, often tinged with reddish purple colour;
leaves thick, ovate elliptic or obovate - rounded,
but variable in shape and size; flowers greenish white, numerous in auxiliary
or terminal spikes; seeds sub-cylindric, reddish
brown. Flowering and Fruiting : August to December MEDICINAL
USES 1. Whole
shade dried plant is powdered with 4 times ‘Misri’
(crystalline sugar)and two tsp of this powder with cow's milk or water taken
twice a day, 1 hour before each meal, for one month, for liver troubles. 2. Fresh
leaves, mixed with black pepper and garlic, ground into a paste and made into pills
and taken as anti-periodic,
especially in ,quartan fevers. 4.
Acorus calamus L. ORIYA NAME : Bacha FAMILY : Araceae HABIT &
HABITAT A
semi-aquatic, perennial herb, thrives best in marshy
and moist places. PLANT
DESCRIPTION A
semi-aquatic, perennial, aromatic herb with creeping rhizomes; rhizome
horizontal, jointed, somewhat vertically compressed, spongy within, pale to
dark brown or occasionally orange brown in colour;
leaves grass like or sword shaped, long and slender; flowers small,
yellowish-green, in a spadix; berries green,
angular, 1-3 seeded; seeds oblong. Flowering and Fruiting: April-August MEDICINAL USES 1. It
is-Used in folk medicine for coughs, colds, bronchial throat and stomach
troubles. In tribalpockets of Mayurbhanj
the rhizome powder is used for epileptic fits. 2. A
piece of rootstock is chewed for obtaining melodious voice. The decoction of
rhizome is used as hair wash to kill lices. 3. In
painful menses, paste of about 20 gm of rhizome with about 15g rhizome of
'pan' (Piper betel L.) and about 10 g rhizome of 'KamaI'
(Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is made into 10 pills and one pill given daily for
10 consecutive days from the first day of menses. 5. Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd
ORIYA
NAME : FAMILY : Zingiberaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
rhizomatous perennial herb, found in the deep forest patches of Orissa and is extensively cultivated all over the state
and the country in shady situations. PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A
perennial herb with tuberous aromatic root stock; leaves oblong-Ianceolate, acute, glabrous, 30-60 cm long, ligule rounded; flowers greenish white, streaked with red,
in dense-flowered, 30 cm long panicles; capsules orange or red, globose. Flowering
and Fruiting : March-June. MEDICINAL
USES 1. Dried
rhizome powdered about 2 tsp taken with slightly warm water twice daily after
meal continuously for 15 days as a curative for rheumatism and bronchial
asthma.. 6. Andrographis paniculata
(Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees ORIYA
NAME : Bhuinimba FAMILY : Acanthaceae HABIT
& HABITAT Annual
herb, grows abundantly in moist, shady, waste grounds and sometimes in dry
forest patch . PLANT
DESCRIPTION An erect
annual herb; stem dark green, quadrangular with longitudinal furrows and
wings on the angles of the younger parts, slightly enlarged at the nodes;
leaves glabrous, lanceolate ; flowers small, in lax
spreading axillary and terminal racemes or panicles
; capsule linear-oblong, acute at both ends, seeds numerous, sub-quadrate,
yellowish brown. Flowering and Fruiting : October-December MEDICINAL USES 1. The
juice of the bruised leaves is mixed with honey in 1: 1 proportion and is
given to children in fever and cough. Nothing sour is allowed during the
period of treatment. 2. The
whole plant is dried in the shade, made into powder and given with water for malarial fever and other
intermittent fevers. 3. Whole plant of 'kalmegh'
and stem bark of 'neem' (Azadirachta
indica A. Juss.) and
'kureya' (HoZarrhena antidysenterica (L.) Wall. ex
G. Don.) are taken in equal quantities, pounded well
and .mixed in water about 6 times by volume. A red hot brick is then dropped
into it and filtered. The extract thus obtained is given internally for jaundice. Dose: 5 ml,
3-4 times a day for 3
days. 7. Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell
ORIYA
NAME : Brahmi FAMILY :
Scrophulariaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
creeping herb, commonly growing on river banks and marshy places throughout
plains of Orissa . PLANT
DESCRIPTION A
prostrate or creeping, juicy, succulent, glabrous annual herb, rooting at the
nodes with numerous ascending branches; leaves simple, opposite, decussate,
sessile, obovate-oblong or spathulate,
entire, fleshy, obscurely veined, punctuate on long slender pedicels; fruits
ovoid, acute, 2-celled, 2-valved capsules. Flowering and Fruiting : Almost throughout the year. MEDICINAL
USES 1.
Decoction of the leaves (about 50 ml ) with honey
(1tps) is taken twice before meal as a preventive of cold and cough . 2. Plant
juice with black pepper is given, twice a day for three days as a curative in
malarial fever. 3. Leaf Juice (10 ml) with 10 ml of honey is
given, once a day in
empty stomach for 30 days
as a preventive in epilepsy. 8.
Boerhavia
diffusa L. ORIYA NAME : Purunisaga FAMILY : Nyctaginaceae HABIT & HABITAT A very variable,
diffusely branched herb, abundantly occurring as a weed throughout plains of Orissa
. PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A
diffusely branched pubescent or glabrous, prostrate herb; root-stock stout, fl!siform, woody; stems creeping, often purplish, swollen
at the nodes; leaves long - petioled, ovate or
oblong-cordate, entire or sinuate, usually whitish
and smooth beneath and rough, green on upper surface, arranged in unequal
pairs at each node; flowers red, pink or white, in small umbels arranged in
auxiliary and terminal panicles; fruits ovate, oblong, pubescent, 5-ribbed,
viscid, glandular anthocarps. Flowering and Fruiting : Major part of the year. MEDICINAL USES 1. Half
tsp of powdered plant is taken with water, thrice a day in empty stomach to get
relief from menstruation troubles. 2. Roots
of the plant and black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)
are mixed together and crushed to obtain paste which is taken once daily in
empty stomach for 7 days,for treatment of cold. 3. The
paste of the leaves is applied as poultice on boil for early maturation. The
paste of root, made after boiling it with soap and salt, is externally used
for ripening of boils. 4. The
root of the plant is crushed with little amount of water and taken with milk,
in the morning, as a tonic and also to treat malaria. 9. Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don ORIYA
NAME : Sadabihari FAMILY : Apocynaceae HABIT
& HABITAT An
erect, annual herb, a native of PLANT
DESCRIPTION A much
branched, handsome, annual herb; leaves opposite, deep green, oval, oblong or
obovate, glossy, slightly foetid;
flowers fragrant, white to pinkish purple in terminal or auxiliary cymose clusters ; follicle hairy, many seeded; seeds
oblong, minute, black. Flowering and Fruiting : Throughout the year MEDICINAL
USES 1. Pasty
mass of fresh twig with two leaf buds is taken with slight hot water in empty
stomach for
one month as a curative for diabetes. 2. Water
Soaked dried roots ground along with ginger and taken orally to relieve
stomach 10. Centella asiatica
(L.) Urban ORIYA
NAME : Thalkudi FAMILY : Apiaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
prostrate, faintly aromatic, stoloniferous
perennial herb, commonly found as a weed in crop fields and other moist
places of PLANT
DESCRIPTION A
prostrate, slender, herbaceous, creeping perennial with rooted nodes and long
inter~ nodes; leaves fleshy, simple with elongated petioles and sheathing
leaf bases, broadly cordate, orbicular-reniform, crenate-dentate, smooth on upper surface and
sparsely hairy on the lower; flowers.red, pink or
white, in fascicled umbels; fruits oblong, dull brown, laterally compressed, pericarp hard and thickened. Flowering and Fruiting : April-October MEDICINAL USES 1.
Leaves are taken to improve memory and serve as a nerve tonic. 3-4 fresh
leaves with 11-12 black peppers are given to children to improve the memory. 2. 11. Chlorophytum tuberosum
Baker ORIYA NAME : Safed Musali FAMILY
: Liliaceae HABIT
& HABITAT Herbs
commonly found in deep forest patches of Orissa
and Northern Peninsular India. PLANT
DESCRIPTION : An
annual herb with a short, hard root stock having fascicled roots ; leaves
sessile, membranous, usually uniform, falcate, acuminate, margins crisped or
undulate ; scape- terete,
naked, usually longer than the leaves; flowers white, in simple or shortly
branched racemes; pedicels jointed below the middle; capsule obovoid, emarginated, shining, transversely veined ;
seeds black. Flowering and Fruiting : July to November. MEDICINAL
USES 1. Roots
are used as a vegetable by the tribals and
considered to be a tonic and aphrodisiac and powdered tubers are used for the
treatment of leucorrhoea. 12. Costus speciosus
(Koenig) Sm.. ORIYA NAME : Panikenduli FAMILY
: Zingiberaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
succulent herb, found throughout Orissa and PLANT DESCRIPTION A
succulent, annual herb with spirally twisted leafy stem and horizontal
rhizomes; leaves simple, spirally arranged, oblanceolate
or oblong, glabrous above, silky pubescent beneath; flowers white, large,
fragrant, in dense terminal spikes; bracts bright red; fruits globose or ovoid capsules; seeds sub-globose
or obovoid. . Flowering and Fruiting : August to November MEDICINAL
USES 1. The juice
of the rhizome is applied on head for cooling and to relieve headache and the juice of the rhizome is poured in
the ear to relieve
Ear ache. 2. Paste
of rhizome is prepared and taken twice daily with water for intestinal worms.
13.
Curcuma amada Roxb. ORIYA
NAME : Ambaada FAMILY : Zingiberaceae HABIT & HABITAT A
rhizomatous herb, cultivated throughout Orissa and PLANT
DESCRIPTION A
rhizomatous aromatic herb; leaves long, petiolate,
oblong-Ian ceo late, tapering at both ends,
glabrous green on both sides; flowers white or pale yellow in spikes in the
centre of the tuft of leaves, lip semi-elliptic yellow 3-lobed, the mid-lobe emarginate. Flowering and Fruiting : Rainy season MEDICINAL
USES 1. The rhizomes
are aromatic, cooling, appetizer, carminative,
stomachic, demulcent, laxative, diuretic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory,
antipyretic and useful in vitiated conditions of pitta
and skin diseases. 14.
Gloriosa
superba L. ORIYA
NAME :
Panchangulia FAMILY : Liliaceae HABIT
& HABITAT A
perennial branched herbaceous climber, common in PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A
handsome, herbaceous, tendrillar climber with underground
cylindrical white tuberous rhizome; leaves alternate, sessile or nearly so,
ovate-Ianceolate, with acuminate tips spirally
twisted to serve as tendrils; flowers showy, large, solitary or corymbose with perianth
segments which have wavy margins, greenish at first, becoming yellow and
finally scarlet or crimson; fruits linear-oblong capsules, seeds many,
rounded. Flowering and Fruiting : August, October MEDICINAL
USES 1. Root,
made into paste with mustard oil, is applied on body for curing periodic
fever. This should be continued for four days and the juice of leaves and
roots is applied externally as an antibiotic for poisonous insect bites. 15. Phyllanthus amarus Schum. & Thonn.
ORIYA NAME : Pithipatra FAMILY
: Euphorbiaceae HABIT
& HABITAT An erect
annual herb, found as a weed in cultivated and wastelands, throughout the
hotter parts of Orissa and PLANT DESCRIPTION A
glabrous, branched annual herb with slender, spreading, leaf-bearing branchlets; leaves numerous, distichous,
sub-sessile, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, base rounded; flowers yellowish,
greenish or whitish, axillary; male flowers in
groups of 1-3, female flowers solitary; fruits depressed-globose,
smooth, capsules underneath the branches; seeds trigonous,
pale brown with longitudinal parallel ribs on the back, Flowering and Fruiting : July-October MEDICINAL
USES 1. Root
extract (50ml) is taken in empty stomach for seven days as curative treatment
for jaundice. 16. Plantago ovata Forsk. ORIYA NAME : Bhusi FAMILY
: Plantaginaceae HABIT
& HABITAT Annual
herb, cultivated in various parts of PLANT
DESCRIPTION : A stem
less or sub-caulescent softly hairy or woolly annual
herb; leaves narrowly linear or filiform, entire or
distantly toothed; flowers in cylindric or ovoid
spikes; capsules ellipsoid, obtuse, the upper half coming off as a blunt
conical lid, membranous, glabrous; seeds ovoid-oblong, boat-shaped, smooth,
yellowish brown. Flowering and Fruiting: March-April MEDICINAL
USES 1. Dried
seeds and husk (Hindi- 'Isubgol-ki~bhusi')
emollient, demulcent and laxative, used in chronic constipation, dysentery
and diarrhoea and inflammatory conditions of gastrointestinal
and genito-urinary tract. Mucilage present mainly
in the husk. 17. Hedychium spicatum
Buch.-Ham.
ex Smith ORIYA NAME : Hedychium FAMILY
: Zingiberaceae HABIT & HABITAT A
rhizomatous herb, occurring mainly in
different parts of western and central PLANT DESCRIPTION A
perennial rhizomatous herb; rhizome horizontal,.
fleshy, bearing erect leafy shoots; leaves large with long clasping sheaths,
sessile, 0blong,'-lanceolate~,.acuminate, glabrous, beneath; flowers white,
fragrant, ascending, dense terminal spikes ; capsule oblong, glabrous; seeds
many, arillate. Flowering and Fruiting : August to October MEDICINAL USES 1. Small
piece of fresh rhizome..(about
10 g) is partially cooked in burning flame and chewed with one glass, of hot
milk for the treatment of asthma and internal injury. The investigations revealed the medicinal plants of 17 species of 17 genera belonging to 13 families. Among all the species, Herbs are found to be more (9) followed by Rhizome (3), Creeper (3) and Climber (2) .The use of plant resources as remedies is probably an ancient as man himself. The aforesaid uses are the ones practiced in day-to-day life of local people living around the denudated forest patches . The use of traditional medicine for various disease and disorders is widespread in Orissa and in this region with higher percentage of the population relying on it. Conclusion Traditional healthcare practices of indigenous people pertaining to human health are termed as ethnomedicine. Ethnomedicine is the mother of all other systems of medicine. Recently the importance of these traditional medicines has been realized worldwide as some of them proved to be very effective (Marini-Bettolo, 1980) and some other prescriptions of these traditional healers may be of benefit to human kind when thorough scientific analysis is conducted into their properties. The study revealed that whatever knowledge on plants exists with the people of Khurdha district of Chandaka areas, they are on fast declining because lack of interest of local youth to learn the traditional knowledge from the old herbal healer. The highly interesting findings for Gynecological disorder require further research, while the efficacy of the various indigenous practices will need to be subjected to pharmacological validation. Therefore, greater efforts are required to document traditional knowledge of the local people so as to prepare a comprehensive account of it, which will open new vistas in plant research which is much more safe, less costly and Eco-friendly. References Ambasta,
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