Medicinal plants of India

From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery

Revision as of 12:10, 27 August 2008

Introduction

Traditional medicines are used by about 60 per cent of the world's population. These are not only used for primary health care not just in rural areas in developing countries, but also in developed countries as well where modern medicines are predominantly used. While the traditional medicines are derived from medicinal plants, minerals, and organic matter, the herbal drugs are prepared from medicinal plants only. Use of plants as a source of medicine has been inherited and is an important component of the health care system in India. In the Indian systems of medicine, most practitioners formulate and dispense their own recipes, hence this requires proper documentation and research. In western world also, the use of herbal medicines is steadily growing with approximately 40 per cent of population reporting use of herb to treat medical illnesses within the past year. Public, academic and government interest in traditional medicines is growing exponentially due to the increased incidence of the adverse drug reactions and economic burden of the modern system of medicine. There are about 45,000 plant species in India, with concentrated hotspots in the region of Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Island. The officially documented plants with medicinal potential are 3000 but traditional practitioners use more than 6000. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is appropriately called the botanical garden of the world. There are currently about 250 000 registered medical practitioners of the Ayurvedic system (total for all traditional systems: approximately 291 000), as compared to about 700,000 of the modern medicine system. In rural India, 70 per cent of the population is dependent on the traditional system of medicine, the Ayurveda.

Some Medicinal Plants of India

Air Plant

Aloe Vera

Amaltas

Apple Mangrove

Arjun Tree

Arni

Arrow Leaf Pondweed

Arrowleaf Dock

Ashwagandha

Asian Spider Flower

Banchalita

Bandicoot Berry

Bara Gokhru

Barbados Cherry

Barringtonia

Bell Weed

Bellyache Bush

Bengal Sage

Bhringaraj

Bichchhoo

Bilimbi

Bird's Head Birthwort

Black Nightshade

Brahmi

Bush Grape

Cabbage Palm

Calabash Tree

Castor Oil Plant

Cat's Whiskers

Catnip

Ceylon Hydrolea

Chameleon Plant

Chaste Tree

Chebulic Myrobalan

Chicory

Chinese Cucumber

Chinese Wedelia

Chir Pine

Chirayita

Chitra

Chitrak

Chives

Coffee Plum

Comfrey

Common Crape Myrtle

Common Leucas

Common Rock Jasmine

Common Yarrow

Crested Lepidagathis

Curry Leaf

Desert Hyacinth

Dwarf Morning Glory

Dwarf Rhododendron

East Indian Arrowroot

East Indian Globe Thistle

East-Indian Screw Tree

Elegant False Tamarisk

Elephant Foot

Eucalyptus

Fever Nut

Feverfew

Fiji Arrowroot

Fire Flame Bush

Flax

Fried Egg Tree

Frog Fruit

Gamhar

Garden Asparagus

Garlic Pear Tree

Gaub

Giant Mexican Sunflower

Giant Potato

Glory Bower

Goanese Ipecac

Goat Weed

Graceful Sandmat

Great Morinda

Green Milkweed Creeper

Ground Cherry

Guest Tree

Gulbel

Gummy Gardenia

Gurmar

Hairy Agrimony

Hatchet Cactus

Henbane

Hill Glory Bower

Hill Gynura

Hill Turmeric

Himalaya Onion

Himalayan Bugle

Himalayan Hogweed

Himalayan Milk Vetch

Himalayan Thorowax

Holostemma Creeper

Honeyweed

Hophead

Horned Lousewort

Horse Mint

Horse Nettle

Indian Barberry

Indian Borage

Indian Kudzu

Indian Mallow

Indian Nightshade

Indian Pavetta

Indian Pennywort

Indian Sarsaparilla

Indian Squirrel Tail

Indian Tree of Heaven

Indian Tulip Tree

Indian Valerian

Indian Willow

Indian Wormwood

Indrajao

Ironwood Tree

Jackal Jujube

Jeevak

Kakronda

Kali Musli

Kamala Tree

Kariyat

Karvy

Kasturi Kamal

Katsagon

Kidney Leaf Morning Glory

Kumarika

Lal Chitrak

Lavang Lata

Leafless Mistletoe

Little Ironweed

Long Leaved Alysicarpus

Long Pepper

Love in a Mist

Madhavi Lata

Madras Carpet

Magenta Plant

Mahua

Malabar Catmint

Malabar Nut

Malay Apple

Marsh Barbel

Maulsari

Mousetail Plant

Nag Kesar

Nepal Dock

Nepal Hogweed

Nepal Mahonia

Nettle Leaved Lindenbergia

Nongmangkha

Opium Poppy

Oriental Pepper

Oval Leaf Pondweed

Perennial Buckwheat

Persian Lilac

Phalsa

Pink Catmint

Pithraj Tree

Pongam Tree

Porcupine Flower

Prickly Chaff Flower

Prickly Sow-Thistle

Puncture Vine

Queen Crape Myrtle

Quick Weed

Red Sandalwood

Red Spiderling

River Beauty

Rudravanti

Rue

Safflower

Sage Leaved Alangium

Salaparni

Sarpagandha

Satawari

Sausage Tree

Sea Mango

Sensitive Smithia

Sessile Joyweed

Shell Ginger

Shepherd's Purse

Shisham

Shrub Vinca

Siam Weed

Singkrang

Sita Ashok

Snake Jasmine

Snow Lotus

South Indian Mahua

Sow Thistle

Spade Flower

Spanish Needles

Spiked Ginger Lily

Stem Clasping Ligularia

Sticky Daisy

Stinking Cassia

Stone Flower

Sugar Apple

Sweet Broom Weed

Sweet Indrajao

Takoli

Tanner's Cassia

Thickhead

Thorny Nightshade

Toothache Plant

Travelers Joy

Tree Bean

Triangular Spurge

Tulsi

Two-toothed Chaff Flower

Velvet Bean

Vervain

Water Willow

West Indian Indigo

White Dead Nettle

Wild Guava

Wild Indigo

Wild Snake Root

Wild Turmeric

Winged Prickly Ash

Yellow Dots

Yellow Himalayan Raspberry

Yellow Jasmine

Yellow Nicker