Medicinal Plants of India- With Special Reference to Ayurveda

About the Book The system of herbal medicine known as AYURVEDA has been followed in India from time immemorial The germ plasm for this science which is now receiving world-wide attention can be traced to the most ancient of Sanskrit texts known as the Vedas. While ortant medicinal ving all the important identifying all dicinal plants that have been mentioned in the Ayurvedic texts along with their medicinal properties and uses, the authors have also tried to give appropriate references to the Sanskrit exts where their names appear. Along texts with the latest accepted Latin names, their Sanskrit and Hindi equivalents have also been listed in most cases in addition to the local names.

Near about 700 species of important medicinal plants form the real back bone of Ayurveda? In addition to these plants that are commonly found in Kerala and many other states, the authors have also devoted some space to the medicinal plants of the Himalayan and the northern regions, to those that have been in use by the tribal’s and to medicinal mushrooms. It is for the first time a comprehensive compilation of this nature is appearing in India or any other country of the world, supported by color photographs of excellent quality.

Foreword The astounding advances made in every field of Medical Sciences during this century had been truly remarkable, particularly in respect of allopath But strange as it may seem, the hundreds of centuries-old system e plant medicine for the cure of human ailments, such as in Ayurveda and Unani, still remain very much at the same place where our sages and savants left this, thousands of years ags Cher presens knowledge of Medicinal Plants and their usefulness in the effective cure of nearly all known diseases of human race, and manner and method of utilization of the differed plam parts in different ailments, are almost entirely based on what these savants and sages have left for us in their writings. True, the modern science of Botany has added considerably to our knowledge of the Medicinal Plants of this country, but such added knowledge is confined to Botanical identification, classification and international Botanical nomenclature. While these aspects of plant science study would, no doubt, help eliminate errors of identification, these do not add to the list of Medicinal Plants already known. or to a larger and better exploitation of plant medicine towards practical utility Consequently, a great deal remains to be done in the direction of therapeutic and pharmacological investigations in respect of medicinal plants. It is here that newer and better Books on Medicinal Plants become necessary for national and international reference, as pointers to such plants for exploitation research. There has been a dramatic revival of interest in recent times in herbal medicine including the hitherto little known ethno medicine. The conservation of medicinal plants and the revitalization of local health traditions have been taken up at the national level as a significant project to inventories such plants. It will be the work of such projects to establish the Botanical identity of Sanskrit names of medicinal plants and study controversial nomenclature, and correlations, to accurately link vernacular, Sanskrit and Botanical names.

Several books, large and small, on medicinal plants in different languages of the country, have appeared in recent years. Some of them have no more than a hundred separate entries of plants, and even so, with a number of errors of different kinds.

However, such Books may have their own limited usefulness. Even the major works in English on Medicinal Plants such as the Materia Medical by Nadkarni or Indian Medicinal Plants by Kirtikar and Basu, are not without errors. In a Book with color photographs of medicinal plants, the possibility of errors of identification could even be larger, unless the book has been written with meticulous care, particularly in relation.

to linking the photographs with changed Botanical names. When the Senior Author of this Book requested me to examine the manuscript with more than 750 entries and desired I should write a Foreword to it, I was hesitant for two reasons.

Preface The importance of medicinal plants and besls has greatly increased in recent years, with some of the western countries having taken up intensive investigations on the active principles contained in some medicinal florae. An illustration in point w be the successful isolation by European Scientists, of highly valued chemical substance of intense medicinal potency from plants such as Cathoranthus raseus, Ranvelfin serpentine etc. More and more scientists are now looking towards plant remedies for various forms of human diseases and ailments. Herbal remedies were the only available means for curing diseases of the human race and the animal world back until a few cent rules ago Indeed even today, those who are experts on the African Wild Life, will testify that certain wild animals with injured or diseased bodies go to some specific plants and eat their succulent stems, leaves. flowers or berries and they do miraculously recover in a short time...the wonder cure of Nature's benevolence: The "Ayurvedic" system of medicine (Herbal medicine) was followed in India.

from time immemorial. The Unans and Sidha systems are believed to have come several centuries later. The germ plasm of herbal medicine came from the Vedas and the ancient sages of India studied the plant world in detail and wrote out their knowledge of the science of herbal remedies for human ailments. Later, this knowledge was codified in the famous work "Ashtanga Hridaya", which can now be said to be the soul of the science and practice of Ayurveda and all other branches of herbal medicine. The North Indian and South Indian systems of "Ayurveda" differ greatly from each other. The Sanskrit names and local names of plants do not often place them in the correct Botanical Natural Order. Identification errors have therefore arisen in numerous cases. In fact, utter confusion and wrong conclusions have resulted even in the case of well known medicinal trees like "Nenmeni Vaka" of Ayurveda. Some Ayurvedic Books describe it as Albizia lebbeck, (Linn.) Willd., while some other publications consider it as Albizia chinensis (Osb.) Merril. Some Books put it under Acacia, while many practising physicians of Ayurveda give the credit to Delonix regia, (Bojer) Ali (Popularly known as "Flame of the Forest", Poinciana regia (Bojer). If this be the situation concerning large trees, one can imagine the utter confusion and contradications that can prevail in the case of small plants, herbs and other annuals, which few have ever seen. Thus wrong information on medicinal plants may cause much damage, and easier methods of identification, preferably visual, have to be thought about. It is hoped that the numerous color photographs of medicinal plants and trees, including those of some of the most important and rare herbs and annuals given in this Book, will go a long way to make the work of identification easier.

The Southern State of Kerala is considered to be the most advanced State in. respect of the practice of Ayurveda in India. About 700 speces of important medicina plants that grow in Kerala are the real backbone of Ayurveda.

**Contents and Sample Pages**