An Overview and Economical Importance of Few Selected Endangered Medicinal Plants Grown in Jammu and Kashmir Region of India

Medicinal plants as a group comprise approximately 8000 species and account for around 50% of all the higher flowering plant species of India. Millions of rural households use medicinal plants in a self-help mode. Over one and a half million practitioners of the Indian System of Medicine in the oral and codified streams use medicinal plants in preventive, promotive and curative applications. In recent years, the growing demand for herbal product has led to a quantum jump in volume of plant materials traded within and across the countries. Further, in view of the side effects of synthetic drugs coupled with their high cost of production, medicinal plants have become major sectors of trade and commerce and are significantly contributing to the socioeconomic developments of certain developed and developing countries. Though India has a rich biodiversity, the growing demand is putting a heavy strain on the existing resources. Among various States of India, Jammu and Kashmir State has a rich diversity of medicinal plants because it provides a diverse type of habitats for their growth. Kashmir valley represents the temperate region, Jammu area represents sub-tropical and tropical and Ladakh as cold desert region. More than 50% of plant based medicines prescribed in British Pharmacopoeia are growing in Jammu and Kashmir State.In the present paper, 13 important medicinal plants, viz., Achillea millefolium L., Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. ex Royle, Artemisia absinthium L., Asplenuim adiantum-nigrum L., Berberis lycium Royle, Cydonia oblonga Miller, Delphinium denudatum Wall. ex. H&T, Picrorhiza kurroa Royle. ex. Benth, Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, Prunella vulgaris L., Salix caprea L., Taraxacum officinale Webber. and Viola odorata L. with attributes to traditional system of medicine and their use by local population in primary health care have been described. The vernacular names, distribution pattern, folk use, use in traditional system of medicine (TSM), phytochemical constituents isolated and characterized in each plant species are discussed. The present status, in State of nature of each plant species based on ethnobotanical exploration made by authors from time to time and future prospects for commericial cultivation is discussed.