Department ofEnvironment

Government ofNational Capital Territory of Delhi

For any queries please contact: Darpan Chhabra, Project officer, Mob.: 09911724839E-mail Id: darpan.chhabra@ceeindia.orgGursimran Kaur, Project officer, Mob.: 09711318209E-mail Id: gursimrankaur@ceeindia.orgCentre for Environment Education Delhi, C-40, Ground Floor, South Extension Part II, New Delhi 110 049

National Medicinal Plants Board Department of AYUSH Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India Jitendra Sharma (IFS)3rd Floor AYUSH Bhawan, B Block, G.P.O. Complex I.N.A., New Delhi-110023E-mail: www.nmpb.nic.in

Department of EnvironmentGovt. of N.C.T. of DelhiDr. B. C. Sabat (Ph.D.)Level-6, C-Wing, Delhi Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New Delhi - 110 002E-mail: bcsabat@yahoo.com

Centre for Environment Education, DelhiPrabhjot Sodhi, Country Programme Manager, Global Environment Facility/UNDP-Small Grants Programme, CEE, E-mail: prabhjot.sodhi@ceeindia.org Mob. 09811811996C-40, Ground Floor South Extension Part II, New Delhi 110 049 E-mail: ceedelhi@ceeindia.org

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MEDICINAL PLANTS AND THEIR USEFULNESSDIFFERENT MEDICINAL PLANTS PLANTED IN THE SCHOOL MEDICINAL PLANT GARDENS

Andrographis panicultata Family: (Kaalmegha) AcanthaceaeGeneral description: Annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka. Found throughout India, from Himachal Pradesh to Assam and Mizoram, and all over southern India. It does best in a sunny location. The seeds are sown during May and June. It is extremely bitter in taste.

Appl icat ions: Leaves and roots are hepa topro tec t i ve , cho l ine rg ic , an t i -spasmodic, stomachic, anthelmint ic, alterative, blood purifier, febrifuge. Acts well on the liver, promoting secretion of bile. Used in jaundice and torpid liver, atulence and diarrhoea of children, colic, strangulation of intestines and splenomegaly; also for cold and upper respiratory tract infections.

Moringa pterygosperma Family: (Drumstick) Moringaceae

General description: It is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Moringa, which is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. English common names include: moringa, drumstick tree (from the appearance of the long, slender, tr iangular seed-pods), horseradish tree (from the taste of the roots, which resembles horseradish), ben oil tree or benzoil tree (from the oil which is derived from the seeds).

Applications: All parts of the tree are reported to be used as cardiac and circulatory stimulant.Pods are antipyretic, anthelmintic; fried pods are used by diabetics. Flowers are cholagogue, stimulant, and diuretic. Root juice is a good cardiac tonic, and antiepileptic. Used for nervous debility, asthma, enlarged liver and spleen, deep-seated inammation and as diuretic in calculus affection. Decoction is used as a gargle in hoarseness and sore throat. Leaf juice is used in hiccough (emetic in high doses); cooked leaves are given in inuenza and catarrhal affections.

Argyreia speciosa Family: (Elephant creeper) Convolvulaceae

General description: Argyreia nervosa is a perennial climbing vine that is native to the Indian subcontinent and introduced to numerous areas worldwide, including Hawaii, Africa and the Caribbean. Though it can be invasive, it is often prized for its aesthetic value. Common names include Hawaiian Baby Woodrose,Adhoguda or Vidhara, Elephant Creeper and Woolly Morning Glory.

Applications: Root is aphrodisiac (considered as a rejuvenator), nervine (used in diseases of nervous system, sexual disorders), diuretic (used in strangury), antirheumatic. Seeds are hypotensive, spasmolytic. Leaves are used externally in skin diseases (ringworm, eczema, boils, swellings); rubefacient, topically stimulant.

Aloe vera Family: (Guar patta) Agavacea

General description: It is a succulent plant species that is found only in cultivation, having no naturally occurring populations, although closely related aloes do occur in wild on coasts of Maharasht ra , Gujara t and South Ind ia . Naturalised stands of the species occur in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula, through North Africa (Morocco, Mauritania, Egypt), as well as Sudan and neighbouring countries, along with the Canary, Cape Verde, and Madeira Island. The species is frequently cited as being used in herbal medicine since the beginning of the first century AD. Extracts from A. vera are widely used in the cosmetics and alternative medicine industries, being marketed as variously having rejuvenating, healing, or soothing properties.

Application: Stem gel has anti-i n a m m a t o r y a p p l i c a t i o n s , antimicrobial (used for wound healing, and sunburn). Used occasionally in constipation; contraindicated in intestinal obstruction and acutely inamed intestinal diseases, ulcerative colitis, appendicitis.

Tinospora cordifolia Family: (Giloy) Menispermaceae

General description: Is an herbaceous climber of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The plant is a glabrous climbing shrub found throughout India, typically growing in deciduous and dry forests. The leaves are heart shaped. The succulent bark is creamy white to grey in color, with deep clefts spotted with lenticels. It puts out long, slender aerial roots, and is often grown on mango or neem trees. Flowers are yellow, growing in lax racemes from nodes on old wood. Fruits are drupes, turning red when ripe.

A p p l i c a t i o n s : H e r b i s antipyretic, antiperiodic, anti-inammatory, antirheumatic, spasmolytic, hypoglycaemic, hepatoprotective. Water extract increases urine output. Stem juice is prescribed in high fever; decoction in rheumatic and bilious fevers. Aqueous extract of the plant is febrifuge.

Bacopa monnieri Family:(Bhrami) Scrophulariaceae

General description: The plant is a perennial, creeping herb native to the wetlands of southern India and Australia. Bacopa is an important medicinal herb used in Ayurveda, where it is also known as "Brahmi," after Brahma, the creator God of the Hindu pantheon. Found throughout the marshy plains of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Also found in Florida, Hawaii and other southern states of the United States where it can be grown in damp conditions by a pond or bog garden.

Applications: Adaptogenic, astringent, diuretic, sedative, potent nervine, tonic, anti-anxiety agent (improves mental functions, used in insanity, epilepsy), antispasmodic (used in bronchit is, asthma and d i a r r h o e a ) . I n p s y c h i c - disorders and as a brain tonic.

Azadirachta indica Family: (Neem) Meliaceae

General description: The tree is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India, Pakistan & Bangladesh growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Neem trees also grow in islands in the southern part of Iran. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil.

Applications: Leaf, bark is antimicrobial, antifungal, anthelmintic, insecticidal, antiviral, antipyretic, antimalarial, antiperiodic, mosquito larvicidal, anti-inammatory, anti-fertility, spermicidal, hypoglycaemic; used in inammation of gums, gingivitis, periodonitis, sores, boils, enlargement of spleen, malarial fever, fever during childbirth, measles, smallpox, head scald and cutaneous affections. Oil used for the treatment of vaginal infections, and as a mosquito repellent.

Syzygium cumini Family: (Jamun) Myrtaceae

General description: It is an evergreen tropical in the treeower ing p lan t fami ly My r t aceae . Syzyg i um c u m i n i i s n a t i v e t o Bangladesh India Nepal, , , Pa k i s t a n S r i L a n k a, , Malaysia Philippines, the , and .Indonesia

Applications: The plant is used in nonspecific acute diarrhoea and in topical therapy for mild inammation of the oral-pharyngeal mucosa; externally in mild, superficial inammation of the skin. Applications in diabetes, also in combination preparations for atonic and spastic constipation, diseases of the pancreas, gastric and pancreatic complaints.The bark is used in acute diarrhoea and haemorrhagic diseases; the seed in hyperglycaemia and polyuria. The chloroform fraction of seed extract exhibited potent anti-inammatory action against both exudative and proliferative and chronic phases of inammation, besides exhibiting significant anti-arthritic, antipyretic and analgesic activities.

Stevia spp. Family: (Meethi tulsi) Asteraceae

General description: Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. With its steviol glycoside extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has attracted attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar sweeteners. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose it is attractive to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.

Applications: Leaves medicinally used as a cardiac stimulant and as a treatment for obesity, hypertension and heartburn, and to help lower uric acid levels. Stevia has been found to have a negligible effect on blood glucose and may even enhance glucose tolerance, it is useful as a natural sweetener for diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets.

Asparagus racemosus Family: (Shatavari) Asparagaceae

General description: The name Shatavari means "curer of a hund red d i seases " ( sha t : "hundred"; vari: "curer"). The plant is common throughout Sri Lanka India Himalayas, and the a n d i s n o w c o n s i d e r e d 'endangered' in its natural habitat.

Applications: Used as a galactagogue and for disorders of female genitourinary tract; as a styptic and ulcer-healing agent; as an intestinal disinfectant and astringent in diarrhoea; as a nervine tonic, and in sexual debility for spermatogenesis. Along with other therapeutic applications, the tuberous root is used in gout, puerperal diseases, lactic disorders, haematuria, bleeding disorders and hyperacidity.

Ocimum gratissimum Family: (Ram Tulasi) Labiatae

General description: Also known as Clove Basil, African Basil, and in Hawaii as Wild Basil, is a spec ies o f Oc imum. I t i s naturalized in Hawaii and is found throughout India.

Applications: Plant is used in neurological and rheumatic affections, in seminal weakness and in phthae of children. Seed is used in cephalalgia and neuralgia. Essential oil extracts applied as antibacterial and antifungal liquid. In homoeopathy, fresh mature leaves are used in constipation, cough, fever, nasal catarrh; also in gonorrhoea with difficult urination.

Kalanchoe pinnata Family : (Patthar chatt) Crassulaceae

Habitat: The plant naturally occurs i n t empera te reg ions o f As ia , Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, Macaronesia, Mascarenes, Galapagos, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii. In India occurs throughout the warm and moist par ts of India, especially abundant in West Bengal.

Applications: Leaf used in anti-inammatory, antifungal, antibacterial actions. Applied to wounds, burns, boi ls, swel l ings. The methanolic extract of leaves exhibited potent anti-inammatory activity against both exudat ive and prol i ferat ive phases of inammation. Known for treatment of kidney stones in India. Reduces pain due to renal stone.

Ocimum sanctum Family: (Tulasi) LabiataeGeneral description: Grown in houses, gardens and temples throughout India. The shrub is a native to South Asia and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Eastern World tropics. Tulasi is cultivated for religious and medicinal purposes, and for its essential oil. It is widely known across South Asia as a medicinal plant and an herbal tea, commonly used in Ayurveda.

A p p l i c a t i o n s : L e a f u s e d a s ca r mina t i ve , s tomach ic , an t i -spasmodic, anti-asthmatic, anti-rheumatic, expectorant, stimulant, hepatoprotective, anti-periodic, anti-pyretic and diaphoretic. Seed used in genitourinary diseases. Root is antimalarial. Plant is adaptogenic and antistressing. Essential oil extracted is antibacterial, & antifungal.

Mentha piperata Family: (Mint) Labiatae

General description:

The plant is indigenous to Europe and widespread species cultivated in Maharashtra, Kashmir and Punjab. It is found wild occasionally with its parent species.

Applications: Oil is digestive, carminative, chloretic, antispasmodic, diuretic, antiemetic, mild sedative, diaphoretic, antiseptic, antiviral, used in many mixtures of indigestion and colic and cough and cold remedies. Leaf is used internally for spastic complaints of the gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder and bile ducts.

Nerium oleander Family: (Oleander) Apocynaceae

General description: Native to Mediterranean region; grown in Indian gardens. Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. N. oleander is either native or naturalized to a broad area from Mauritania, Morocco, and Portugal eastward through the Mediterranean region.

Applications: Leaf is used for diseases and functional disorders of the heart, as well as for skin diseases has been indicated.

Gloriosa superba Family: (Agnishikha) Liliaceaes

General description:

Spread throughout the tropical India. They are native in tropical and southern Africa to Asia, and naturalised in Australia and the Pacific.

Applications: Tuberous root is anti-inammatory, alterative, anthelmintic, antileprotic. Used for piles, swollen joints, parasitical affections of skin. Fresh juice of plant—uterine stimulant.

Lavandula angustifolia Family: (Lavender) Labiatae

General description: The herb is a native to the Old World and is found from Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, southern Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to southeast India. The most widely cultivated species.

Applications: Used internally for mood disturbances, such as restlessness or insomnia; functional abdominal complaints (nervous stomach irritation and discomfort), for the treatment of functional circulatory disorders in balneotherapy. Finds application in depressive states associated with digestive dysfunction.

Acorus calamus Family:(Sweet ag, Bach) Araceae

General description: Wild and cultivated throughout India in damp marshy places. Common in Manipur and Naga Hills. It is a tall perennial wetland monocot with scented leaves and more strongly scented rhizomes.

Applications: Rhizome used as nervine tonic, hypotensive, tranquilizer, sedative (with neuroleptic and antianxiety proper ties), analgesic, spasmolytic, anticonvulsant; used for bronchial catarrh, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. Dried rhizomes used as a brain tonic in weakmemory, psychoneurosis and epilepsy.

Plantago ovate Family: (Isabhgol) Plantaginacea

General description: Can be found growing wild in the southwestern United States, where i t is an introduced species and cultivated in India in the parts of Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Applications: Seed and husk is a laxative, diuretic, demulcent, bechic, cholinergic. Used in inammatory conditions of the mucous membrane of gastrointestinal and gen i tou r i na r y t r ac t , ch ron ic amoeb ic and bacil lary dysentery; also in hyper-cholesterolemia. Effective In chronic constipation and irritable bowel.

Terminalia bellirica Family: (Behera) Combretaceae

General description: It is a large deciduous tree common on p l a i ns and l owe r h i l l s i n Southeast Asia, where it is also grown as an avenue tree.

Applications: The fruit is purgative when half ripe, astringent when ripe; antipyretic; used in prescriptions for diarrhoea, dyspepsia, biliousness; cough, bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infections, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia and allergic eruptions. The drug is used in powder form in emesis and worm infestation, in addition to other therapeutic applications.

Trachyspermum ammi Family: (Ajwain) Umbelliferae

General description: Cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. The plant has a similarity to parsley because of their seed-like appearance, the fruit pods are sometimes called seeds; they are egg-shaped and grayish in colour.

Applications: Fruits used as carminat ive, antispasmodic, anticholerin, antidiarrhoeal, bechic, stimulant. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India recommends the dried fruits in tympanitis, constipation, colic and helminthiasis. Oil used as an expectorant in emphysema, bronchial and other respiratory ailments. Used externally in cases of rheumatism. Leaf juice used as anthelmintic. Root is carminative, diuretic, and febrifuge in action. The aqueous extract of the fruit is a popular remedy for diarrhoea in Indian medicine.

Lawsonia inermis Family : (Mehndi) Lythraceae

General description: The shrub is a native to Arabia and Persia; now cultivated mainly in Haryana and Gujarat; to a small extent in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It is a owering plant and the sole species of the Lawsonia genus. Mainly used in dye preparation and the ar t of temporary tattooing based on those dyes. Henna has been used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, and fingernails, as well as fabrics including silk, wool, and leather.

Applications: Leaves are astringent, antihaemorrhagic, antispasmodic, oxytocic, antifer tility, antifungal, And antibacterial. Used externally to treat skin infections (t inea); also as a ha i r cond i t i one r. The Ayur ved ic Pharmacopoeia of India indicated the use of the leaves in dysuria, jaundice, bleeding disorders, ulcers, prurigo and other obstinate skin diseases. The leaf is also recommended in giddiness and vertigo.

Habitat: Native of China; grown in gardens throughout India. The tree is a species of owering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to East Asia. The owers of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis are edible and are used in salads in the Pacific Islands. The ower is addit ional ly used in hair care as a preparation.

A p p l i c a t i o n s : F l o w e r- u s e d i n impotency, bronchial catarrh. Flower and bark-emmenagogue. Leaf -stimulates expulsion of placenta after childbir th; laxative, anodyne. Flower and root-used in menorrhagia.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Family: (Gudhal, China rose) Malvaceae

General description: The short tree is a Native to China; cultivated in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir and Nor th-Western Himalayas. The mulberry is widely cultivated to feed the silkworms employed in the commercial production of silk. It is also notable for the rapid release of its pollen, which is launched at over half the speed of sound.

Applications: Fruit provides cooling, and has laxative properties. Used for sore throat, dyspepsia and melancholia. Leaves and root bark are expectorant, d i u re t i c , and hypo tens i ve . Ba rk extract is hypoglycaemic. Leaf is anti-inammatory, emollient, and diaphoretic. Used as a gargle in inammations of the throat.

Morus alba Family: (Mulberry) Moraceae

General description: Occurs in tropical and sub-tropical par ts of India, in waste places and open moist fields.

Applications: Whole is plant used in decoction, and is diuretic and lithotriptic. Also used in scabies and psoriasis. Seeds used in xerostomia, throat infections and neurological affection of tongue. Root is purgative. Flower heads used as a substitute for the tincture of pyrethrum to treat inammation of jaw-bones and caries.

Spilanthes calva Family: (Akarkaraa) Asteraceae

General description: The shrub is a genus of six species in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus (and also with the common seashore mollusc, Littorina littorea). In India the plant is known as sadaphuli meaning "always owering".

Applications: Highly effective in acute leukemia in children and lymphocytic leukemia; and pediatric tumours. Used in haemolytic anaemia and for the treatment of metastatic testicular cancer; also against bladder cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer.

Vinca rosea Family: (Sadabhar) Apocynaceae

General description: Native to tropical America; naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions of India is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value.

Applications: Leaf is astringent, alterative, antiseptic, styptic, blood purifier. Used for diarrhoea, dysentery, haemophilic conditions, leucorrhoea, morbid conditions of vagina, piles, fistula, hydrocele and glandular swellings. Root used in gravel and urinary complaints. A decoction is taken to relieve asthma.

Mimosa pudica Family: (Chui mui) Mimosaceae

General description: Is a widespread t ropical p lant commonly found in coastal areas, best known by the common names Bhui Amla and Bahupatri. It is a relative of the spurges, be longing to the P h y l l a n t h u s g e n u s o f Fa m i l y Euphorbiaceae.

Applications: Plant is diuretic, deobstruent, astringent, anti-inammatory, styptic. Used as a single drug in the treatment of jaundice. Used in prescriptions for dyspepsia, indigestion, chronic dysentery, urinary tract diseases, diabetes, skin eruptions.

Phyllanthus amarus Family: (Bhui Amla, Bahupatri) Euphorbiaceae

General description: Commonly known as lemon grass or oil grass, is a tropical plant from Sou theas t As ia . The shrubby grass is grown in Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Applications: Leaf used as stimulant, sudorific, antiperiodic, anticatarrhal. Essential oil extracts are carminative, anticholerin, depressant, analgesic, antipyretic, antibacterial, antifungal. The lemongrass contains a volatile oil, with citral, citronellal, geraniol and myrcene as its main constituents. Cetral and citronellal exhibit marked sedative activity. The lemongrass is taken as a tea for digestive problems; it relaxes muscles of the stomach and gut, relieves spasm and atulence. In catarrhal conditions, it is taken as a febrifuge.

Cymbopogon citratus Family: (Lemon grass) Poaceae

Ferula foetida Family: (Hing) Umbelliferae

General description: A perennial herb that grows 1 to 1.5 m tall. The species is native to the deserts of Iran, mountains of Afghanistan, and is mainly cultivated in nearby India. As its name suggests, asafoetida has a fetid smell but in cooked dishes it delivers a smooth avour reminiscent of leeks.

Applications: Hing has been used since ancient times as a home remedy for indigestion, the reason why it is routinely used in most day to day Indian cuisine. Its anti-inammatory and anti-oxidant properties help alleviate digestion problems like upset stomach, intestinal gas, intestinal worms, atulence, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), etc. Drinking a few small pieces of asafoetida dissolved in half a cup of water gives quick relief from indigestion. Hing is one of the remedies to be used for treating respiratory tract infections, acts as a respiratory stimulant and expectorant to release phlegm and relieve chest congestion. Hing mixed with honey and ginger is used for respiratory disorders such as chronically dry cough, whooping cough, bronchitis, asthma, etc. Hing is used in the treatment of diabetes because it helps pancreatic cells to secrete more insulin thereby decreasing blood sugar levels. To lower blood sugar levels, eat bitter gourd cooked with hing.