Aloe vera

Aloe vera
Image courtesy: MidgleyDJ/Wikimedia Commons
(CC BY-SA 3.0)

        Aloe vera is a succulent and evergreen perennial plant species, cultivated widely for agricultural and medicinal uses. The name Aloe vera derives from the Arabic word "Alloeh" meaning "Shining bitter substance", while the name "vera" in Latin means "true".

Synonyms : Aloe indica, Aloe barbadensis.

Scientific Classification

        Kingdom           : Plantae
        Order                 : Asparagales
        Family               : Asphodelaceae
        Genus                : Aloe
        Species              : vera
        Binomial name : Aloe vera L.

Geographical occurrence:
        It grows mainly in the dry regions of Asia, Africa, America and Europe.

Plant morphology:

       Aloe vera is a stemless plant growing up to 60-100 cm. The leaves are thick, fleshy and contain spines at the margins (serrated edges). The yellow tubular flowers are produced in summer on a spike up to 90 cm tall. 

Azadirachta indica

Neem flowers
Image courtesy: Bishnu Sarangi

Synonyms: Neem, Veppu (Malayalam), Vepa (Telugu).

Scientific Classification
    Kingdom          : Plantae
    Order                : Sapindales
    Family              : Meliaceae
    Genus               : Azadirachta
    Species             : indica
    Binomial name : Azadirachta indica A. Juss.

Habitat:
         It is habitated in south-east Asia and tropical regions of Australia and Africa.

Plant morphology:

        Neem is an evergreen tree, 10-20 m high with a straight trunk and long spreading branches. Leaves are alternate and exstipulate. Leaflets are alternate or opposite. The petioles are short. The flowers are white and fragrant. The fruit is an ovoid, smooth drupe, green when young, yellow to brown when mature with a very scanty pulp and a hardy endocarp. The seed is solitary with a thick testa and embryo with foliaceous cotyledons in the axis of the scanty endosperm. 

Waling-waling : "The Queen of Philippine flowers"

       Waling-waling (Vanda sanderiana) is known as "The Queen of Philippine flowers". It is a beautiful flower in orchidaceae family, commonly known as Waling-waling or Sander's Vanda. This orchid is worshipped as a diwata by the indigenous Bagobo people and was described by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1882. 

Geographical distribution :

       It is native to the Philippines and also occurs endemically on the island of Mindanao. 

Waling-waling
Image courtesy: I Travel Philippines/
Wikimedia commons
(CC BY 2.0)

Systematic classification
        Kingdom           : Plantae
        Division            : Angiosperms
        Order                 : Orchidales
        Family               : Orchidaceae
        Genus                : Vanda
        Species              : sanderiana
        Binomial name : Vanda sanderiana (Rchb.f.) Schltr.

Plant Morphology:

        Its leaves are 30-40 cm long. Flowers are fragrant with 7 to 10 flowered raceme. The flower has wide and colourful petals. The dorsal flower petal is slightly pink and tinted white. The internal whorls are smaller and the concave lip is usually brown-yellow with red streaks on the inside. It blooms only once a year, between the months of July and October.

Uses:

• It is widely used as an ornamental flower (rarest and most expensive orchid). Ethnobotanical uses are not yet reported. 

References

• Vanda sanderiana (Rchb.f.) Rchb.f.; The Plant List; www.theplantlist.org.; Retrieved 2019-10-06

Petrea volubilis

Petrea volubilis
Image courtesy: Vinayaraj/
Wikimedia commons
(CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Synonyms : Petrea arborea, Petrea racemosa, Petrea mexicana

Common names : Purple wreath, Nilmani, Queen's wreath.

Scientific Classification
        Kingdom           : Plantae
        Order                 : Lamiales
        Family               : Verbenaceae
        Genus                : Petrea
        Species              : volubilis
        Binomial name : Petrea volubilis L.

Geographical distribution:
     It is native to Central America.

Plant morphology:

    It is commonly a climber. Flowers are violet-purple star-like flowers with drooping long racemes. It flowers best in spring season.

Chemical Constituents:
     It contain  β-amyrin, stigmasterol, lupeol, ursolic acid,  β-sitosterol etc.

Uses:
    It have antimicrobial and antioxidant potential.

References:

• Mahabuba Rahman, Aziza Siddika, Bithika Bhadra et al.,; 2010; Antihyperglycemic Activity Studies on Methanol Extract of Petrea volubilis L. (Verbenaceae) Leaves and Excoecaria Agallocha L. (Euphorbiacea) Stems; Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences.
• Chitra Jain, Shivani Khatana and Rekha Vijayvergia; 2018; Bioactivity of secondary metabolites of various plants: A review; International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research; 10(2); 494-504.

Clerodendrum infortunatum

      Clerodendrum infortunatum is a perennial herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family.

C. infortunatum
(Image courtesy: Vanlap Hoang/Flickr)

Synonyms : Bhat (Hindi), Ghentu (Bengali).

Scientific Classification
        Kingdom           : Plantae
        Order                 : Lamiales
        Family               :Lamiaceae
        Genus                : Clerodendrum
        Species              : infortunatum
        Binomial name : Clerodendrum infortunatum L.

Geographical occurrence:
      The plant is common in the tropical regions of Asia.

Plant morphology:

      Clerodendrum infortunatum is a shrub having 2-4 feet in height. Its leaves are simple, opposite, decussate, petiolate, exstipulate and hairy with a disagreeable odour. Flowers are bluish-purple often white in pyramid-shaped terminal panicles. The fruits are four-lobed purple drupe. It flowers in the months of April to August.

Chemical constituents:
      The major compounds found in this species are sterols, saponins, flavonoids, and sugars. Roots contain luperol and β-sitosterol.

Uses:
      Its leaves have antimicrobial, antihelmintic, hepatoprotective, analgesic and antioxidant activities.

References:

• Debayan Bhattacharjee, Arup Das, Sreemoy Kanti Das and G.S. Chakraborthy; 2011; Clerodendrum infortunatum Linn.: A Review; Journal of Advances in Pharmacy and Healthcare research; 1(3).

Hedyotis indirae

         Hedyotis indirae is a new shrubby species of Rubiaceae family. This plant was named after Dr. Indira Balachandran as honouring her contributions to the field of medicinal plants.

Family: Rubiaceae

Binomial name  : Hedyotis indirae L.

Distribution:

        It is endemic to the Western Ghats in India.

Habitat:

        It grows at 6300 feet above sea level.

Plant Morphology:

        Flowers are white in colour. 

References

• Konickal Mambetta Prabhukumar, Pilathottathil Aiswarya, Raveendran Jagadeesan, Vannaratta Veettil Naveen Kumar, Chandrasseril Narayanan Sunil & Vadakoot Sankaran Hareesh (2019); Hedyotis indirae (Rubiaceae), a new species from Western Ghats, India; Webbia; DOI: 10.1080/00837792.2019.1641298.

How to tell the age of a tree

       
      If we examine the trunk of a tree that has been chopped down, we will see first of all the outer ring of the bark which acts as a sort of waterproof coat for the tree. Inside the outer covering come a number of concentric rings. 

Each one of these rings represents a year in the life of the tree. The space between the rings is the wood which the tree produced during one year.

        By counting the number of rings we can tell when the tree has born. These rings also indicate the dry periods the tree lived through as well as wet periods. In dry times the rings are very thin. In heavy rainfall years, the rings are thicker.

       The slender course of wood can be taken from a tree, from the bark to the center of the trunk: these samples reveal the same information and are taken with a borer that does so significant damage to the tree.

       Scientists can learn about the climatic changes that happened in the past by studying the shape and size of the rings.

How cedar oil is made

       Cedar oil or cedarwood oil is an essential oil, which the ancient peoples used to embalm dead bodies. It was also once used to coat books to preserve them from insects and damp. 

Cedar oil
Image courtesy: 
Itineranttrader/
Wikimedia commons
(CC0)

       The oil is produced by distilling it from the African cedar and is an essential oil which has a pleasing scent. These oils are used for the scenting or flavouring of numerous products, such as perfumes, cosmetics and soaps.

    The African cedar grows in the north of that continent, especially on the Atlas Mountains. It is a very imposing conifer that bears many leaves and grows to a height of more than 40 meters. It closely resembles the more famous cedar of Lebanon which was also highly prized by the ancient peoples.

       Cedarwood is soft and rich in resin. It can be worked easily and is used extensively in building and furniture-making. Cedarwood and cedar oil are known to be a natural repellent to moths.

How the poison of jimson weed acts

     Stramonium or the jimson weed is also known as 'the devil's grass. The plant got this name because of its poison seems to drive the victim made as if he were possessed by the devil.

      The tropane alkaloids in the plant can cause serious distortion of the eyesight. Ingestion of jimson weed induces delirium, blurred vision, drying of mouth, tachycardia, hyperthermia, mydriasis and amnesia. Symptoms of jimson weed intoxication may last 24 to 48 hours. In small doses, however, these poisons can be used to treat certain illnesses.

    Stramonium found in certain drugs is extracted from the leaves of this plant. It acts as a sedative and eases nerve and rheumatic pains. Stramonium leaves are also used to make special cigarettes for the treatment of asthma. The seeds of the plant provide an oil which is used in lotion to be rubbed on the body.

For further reading:

• Bhakta Prasad Gaire and Lalita Subedi. 2013. "A review on the pharmacological and toxicological aspects of Datura stramonium L.". Journal of Integrative Medicine. 11(2):73-79.
• Krishna Murthy Naik V, Sudhakar Babu K, Latha J and Beulah Kolluru. 2018. "A review on Phytochemical and Pharmacological activity of Datura stramonium ". Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. Academic OneFile.

Peristeria elata - "Holy Ghost Orchid"

Have you heard about the "holy ghost orchid", the national flower of Panama? 
Yes, Peristeria elata.
      Peristeria elata, the national flower of Panama is a species of the orchid family commonly known as "dove orchid" or "holy ghost orchid". The name of this genus was taken from the Greek word peristerion meaning "dove".

Family: Orchidaceae

Binomial name : Peristeria elata Hook.

Peristeria elata
Image courtesy: TommyCrash /
Wikimedia commons
(CC BY-SA 3.0)

Distribution:

        It is widely distributed in the American tropics from Costa Rica and Panama south to Peru and Brazil.

Habitat:

       Peristeria elata is commonly found in shaded grassland edges in tropical forests at altitudes of 100 to 700 m.

Plant morphology:

     They have teardrop-shaped (ovate) pseudobulbs covered with papery sheaths. Its leaves are simple and lanceolate-elliptic in shape with a plicate leaf surface which arises from the apex of pseudobulbs and the inflorescence are arise from the base of the pseudobulbs may be pendulous or erect and from 6 inches to 4 feet long, bearing 4-20 flowers. 
       The base colour of the flowers is white with some pink or red spots. The flowers are fragrant and cup-shaped with white petals and sepals. The central part of the flower has a well-defined dove shape. Peristeria elata blooms between the months of July and October.

Chemical Constituents:
       According to several research studies, 2-phenylethanol, 2-phenylethyl acetate, phenol and 1, 8-cineole were considered to be important components of the aroma of the flower of Peristeria elata.

Uses:

• It is widely used as an ornamental flower. Its ethnobotanical uses are not yet reported.

For further reading:

• Carol Siegel (2012). "Orchids: Beautiful symbols of beautiful places". Orchid Digest. 8-19.
• Jirovetz, Leopold; Gonzalez, Jaime Espinosa; Silvera, Gaspar; Nikiforov, Alexej; Woidich, Alexander (1992-09-01). "Volatile Constituents of Peristeria elata (Orchidaceae)". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 4 (5): 435–438. DOI:10.1080/10412905.1992.9698106. ISSN 1041-2905.

Vatica obscura

       Vatica obscura is an endangered species in Dipterocarpaceae family which produces a gummy exudation used for caulking boats.

Vatica obscura
(Image courtesy:
Biodiversity Heritage Library)

Family: Dipterocarpaceae

Binomial name: Vatica obscura Trimen

Geographical Source:
        The tree is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Plant morphology:

        The plant height is up to 30 m tall. Its bark is smooth and grey. Stipules are very slender, acute and 5-6 mm long. Leaves are glabrous and lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong. Flowers are white and fragrant. Anthers are oblong and the ovary is densely pubescent. Mature fruit is ovoid- globose. The pericarp is leathery and 2 mm thick.

Chemical constituents:
     It contains flavonol quercetin, flavone apigenin, flavonol kaempferol, quercetin 3-glucoside, quercetin 3-rutinoside, apigenin 5-glucoside etc.

Uses:
      Vatica is mainly harvested for its wood and resin. However, it is also used for treating wounds. 

"The Queen of Herbs" - Tulsi

       Tulsi is an aromatic herbaceous plant which is considered as a sacred plant by Hindus. Tulsi is also known as "The Queen of Herbs" or "Mother Medicine of Nature".

Synonyms: Sacred Basil, Holi Basil

Family: Lamiaceae

Binomial name: Ocimum sanctum Linn

Geographical Distribution:
       It is cultivated throughout India in gardens of temples and houses and is worshipped as the avatar of Lakshmi.

Plant morphology:

       The plant is an annual herb of 30 to 60 cm in height. The branches are generally purplish, sub-quadrangular and covered with soft hairs. The plant bears petiolate leaves having an entire or serrate margin. The apex and base are acute. The leaves are minutely gland-dotted and contain trichomes on both the surfaces. 
      Flowers are verticillate, in racemes, 15-20 cm long in close whorls. Odour is aromatic and the taste is pungent. Nutlets are subglobose, slightly compressed, pale brown or red in colour. Seeds are reddish-black and subglobose.

Chemical Constituents: 

        The major constituent is a volatile oil (0.7%) which contains eugenol, methyl eugenol, carvacrol, caryophylin.