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Ethnobotanical study of Asteraceae of Patalkot valley, Chhindwara District, MP, India
By
Dr. Deepak Acharya |
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'Patalkot' situated in the hilly block 'Tamia' of Chhindwara District, has acquired great importance because of its Geographical and Scenic beauty. Patalkot is a lovely landscape located at a depth of 1200-1500 feet in a valley. Because of the great depth at which it is located this place is christened as 'Patalkot' ('Patal means very deep, in Sanskrit). . Patalkot is spread over an area of 79 Sq.Km. at an average height of 2750-3250 feet above Mean Sea Level. It is a treasure of forest and herbal wealth. There are 12 villages and 13 hamlets in this valley, with a total population of 2012.Because of the inaccessibility of this area, the tribals of this region were totally cut off from the civilized world.
Most of the people belong to 'Bharia' and 'Gond' tribes. Patalkot valley of Chhindwara district is situated on the Satpura plateau in the southern central part of the Madhya Pradesh.
Chhindwara district lies between latitude 21°23' and 22°49' north and longitude 78°10' and 79°24' east. The district is more or less divided into three natural forest regions corresponding to three steps ascending from south to north. Wholely, one can say it a “Forest District”.
Asteraceae is one of the largest family of vascular plants represented by 30,000 species and over 1100 genera all over the world. In India, there are 900 species under 167 genera. Asteraceae dominates other phanerogames in Patalkot valley too. We report 60 species belonging to 44 genera of this region. There has been much contribution made in publishing records of family Asteraceae by various workers. So far, there is no published record of Asteraceae from Patalkot valley of Chhindwara district. Therefore, extensive surveys of Asteraceous plants were carried out during 1999-2000. Specimens of the survey were deposited in Herbarium of Botany Department of Danielson College.
During the survey, we explored the area of Patalkot valley that included- Gaildubbha, Karayam Rathed, Ghatlinga, Gudichhathri, Karrapani, Tamia Bharia Dhana, Bijauri, Pandu Piparia, Sajkui, Lahgadua, karrapani, Sidhouli. Most of the plants of family Asteraceae occuring in this region have been identified.
In the following enumeration, medicinal value and weediness are discussed. The medicinal values of the plants are based on the information obtained from the tribal viz., Bharias and Gonds of Patalkot valley. I shall discuss details about the ethnobotanical uses of these Asteraceous medicinal plants of Patalkot in my next communication (Part II).
The list of the plants have been prepared in alphabetical.
Table: Flowering, fruiting and uses of members of Asteraceae.
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Name of species Fl & Fr Uses Part
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Acanthospermum hispidum Jul/ Oct Weed -
Ageratum conyzoides May/ Dec Medicine L
Amberboa ramosa Jul/ Feb Medicine WP
Bidens biternata Aug/ Jan Weed -
Blainvillea acmella Apr/ Nov Weed -
Blumea balsamifera Nov/ Apr Medicine L
B. eriantha Nov/ Apr Medicine P
B. lacera Jan/ Jun Medicine R&L
B. laciniata Dec/ Mar Weed -
B. mollis Feb/ May Weed -
Caesulia axillaris Oct/ Apr Weed -
Carthamus tinctorius Feb/ Apr Medicine F
Centipeda minima Jan/ Dec Medicine W
Chrysanthemum indicum Oct/ Dec Garden -
Cichorium intybus Jan/ Jun Medicine R&S
Cosmos bipinnatus Aug/ Nov Weed -
C. sulphureus Sep/ Jan Weed -
Cyathocline purpurea Dec/ May Weed -
Dahlia pinnata Jun/ Dec Garden -
Echinops echinatus Oct/ May Medicine WP
Eclipta alba Jun/ Mar Medicine WP
E. prostrata Jan/ Dec Medicine R&L
Elephantopus scaber Oct/ May Medicine WP
Emilia sonchifolia Aug/ Feb Medicine WP
Erigeron asteroides Dec/ May Medicine WP
Eupatorium triplinerve Sep/ Jan Medicine WP
Gaillardia pulchella Mar/ Sep Garden -
Galinsoga perviflora Dec/ Apr Weed -
Gnaphalium luteo-album Jan/ Dec Weed -
G. pensylvanicum Jan/ Nov Weed -
G. purpurium Aug/ May Weed -
Guizotia abyssinica Sep/ Dec Medicine S
Gynura nitida Dec/ May Weed -
Helianthus annuus Oct/ Dec Medicine WP
Lagascea mollis Apr/ Nov Weed -
Launaea nudicaulis Sep/ May Medicine L
Parthenium hyterophorus May/ Mar Weed -
Pentanema indicum Sep/ Jun Weed -
Pulicaria wightiana Aug/ Dec Weed -
Sclerocarpus africanus Mar/ Sep Weed -
Siegesbeckia orientalis Apr/ Dec Medicine WP
Sonchus arvensis Aug/ Apr Medicine WP
S. brachyotus Sep/ Mar Medicine L&F
S. oleraceus Aug/ Mar Medicine WP
Sphaeranthus indicus Jan/ Jul Medicine WP Spilanthes acmella Jul/ Mar Medicine WP
S. calva Feb/ Apr Medicine F&L
S. radicans Oct/ Jan Weed -
Synedrella nodiflora Jan/ Dec Weed -
Tagetes erecta Jan/ Dec Medicine F&L
T. patula Sep/ Dec Medicine F&L Tithonia diversifolia Sep/ May Weed -
Tridax procumbens Jan/ Dec Medicine WP
Vernonia cinerea Mar/ Dec Medicine WP
V. divergens Jan/ Jun Weed -
Xanthium strumarium Jul/ Jan Medicine WP
Zennia elegans Sep/ Mar Garden -
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WP - Whole Plant, F - Flower, L - Leaf, S - Seed, R - Root
Concluding Remarks
Asteraceae stands as the fourth largest family in India. The present floristic study survey showed that Blumea is represented by the maximum number of species in the area. Sieges beckia is found only in Tamia hills. Most of the genera were represented by only one or two species. Guizotia, Tagetes, Helianthus, and Spilanthes are being cultivated by the local farmers. Another weeds like Parthenium, Xanthium, Vicoa, Cichorium, and Caesulia were found to be frequently.
Acanthospermum, Ageratum, Parthenium, Xanthium, Vicoa, Cichorium and Caesulia are the most common weeds in the fields of Patalkot Valley. Few taxa such as Parthenium hysterophorus, Xanthium strumarium, Tridax procumbens, Ageratum conyzoides and Acanthospermum hispidum dominate practically all the areas and are common weeds. Though, some taxa are weeds but rural and tribal people utilize them as medicines. Most Asteraceous plants grew well in Patalkot valley, but no research has been conducted on these valuable plants. Truely speaking, it really requires a biological, ecological, and ethnobotanical study for the cultivation and conservation of plants of Asteraceae in Patalkot valley as well in Chhindwara District.
Conservation activities should be concerned with all medicinally important species. In Asteraceae many species are weedy but even some of these are traditional remedies and are used as traditional food.
There is a greater need to combine ethnobotanical information with ecological studies of Asteraceae.
Dr Deepak Acharya
Author's Bio
Dr DEEPAK ACHARYA Department of Botany, Danielson College, Chhindwara, MP - 480 001, India. Phone: + 91-7162-246159, Mobile: +91 9826171340; Fax: +91-7162-248454 email: deepak@patalkot.zzn.com; RESEARCH INTERESTS: Microbiology, Microbial activity, Ethnobotany and Environmental Education; EDUCATION & RESEARCH: MSc PhD, Publication: Published 20 research papers and 126 popular articles in various Journals/magazines of repute.
URL: http://dracharya.tripod.com
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