Abhaya Prasad Das

North Bengal University & Rajiv Gandhi University

The alkaline food-additive, called 'Pila', extracted from the ashes of various plants is popularly prepared and consumed by the people of Apatani tribe living in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh (India). This paper focuses the plants which are used as resource for Pila extraction, their availability, uses, edibility and ethnobotanical values. I...

While knowledge is often passed on through regular indigenous performances which include oral traditions, songs, dances, ceremonies and lifestyles. Skilled indigenous individuals shoulder the responsibilities of maintaining the traditional knowledge breathed by their forefathers. Although paddy plantation may occur as seasonal pattern in many parts...

The Northeastern region of India harbors the richest reservoir of plant diversity in In-dia. An outline of plant diversity for the region particularly the diversity of the family Malvaceae (s.l.) along with its useful species have been depicted in the article. A total of 43 genera and 138 species of this family has been enumerated with their state...

Paddy is cultivated over wide areas in Arunachal Pradesh of India since long. Like any other crop, weeds affect the paddy cultivation also in this remote hilly state. However, till date no data is available related to such weeds from Arunachal Pradesh. Recent survey of weeds in pre-and post-harvest paddy-fields of Papum Pare district of Arunachal P...

Physalis pubescens L. (Solanaceae), a native of tropical and subtropical America, has now been recorded for the first time in India from the state of West Bengal. Taxonomic description along with an illustrative photo plate, information on habitat, distribution, flowering and fruiting time have been provided for its easy identification.

With a background knowledge of the natural distribution of Juglans sigillata Dode (Juglandaceae) in Darjeeling-Sikkim part of Eastern Himalaya, a search was conducted in Changlang and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh to record its distribution and local uses. While Changlang is on the eastern border of the state as well as India with Myanmar,...

The alkaline food-additive, called 'Pila', extracted from the ashes of various plants is popularly prepared and consumed by the people of Apatani tribe living in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh (India). This paper focuses the plants which are used as resource for Pila extraction, their availability, uses, edibility and ethnobotanical values. I...

While knowledge is often passed on through regular indigenous performances which include oral traditions, songs, dances, ceremonies and lifestyles. Skilled indigenous individuals shoulder the responsibilities of maintaining the traditional knowledge breathed by their forefathers. Although paddy plantation may occur as seasonal pattern in many parts...

The majority of modern drugs are based on phytochemicals produced from ethnomedicinal plants. Due to high global usage and demand for medicinal herbs, cultivation and bioprospecting of these plants has enormous potential for the future. This new book, Bioprospecting of Ethnomedicinal Plants: Sustainable Utilization and Restoration, highlights the i...

Use of local plants used to treat different gastrointestinal diseases by the people of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam in Northeast India. Plants are used in single or in combinations.

Tea is under cultivation in Darjeeling hills since 1835 and in Terai it was introduced in 1862. Any cultivated field in this region is liable to be affected by weed infestation as the local flora is extremely rich. The crop loss in tea gardens of this area is quite considerable and the planters practice a good variety of deweeding techniques. Four...

The genus Swertia L. (Gentianaceae) is well represented in Eastern Himalaya with a good number of species. Swertia wardii C.Marquand was known to occur in Nepal, TAR, Bhutan, and in the state of Sikkim in India. In 2022, this species was collected from the subalpine regions in the Shi Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeastern India. This r...

Bodo community of Assam has been using plants as medicine since an unknown past. The traditional Bodo-healers, 'Ojha' are reported to have good knowledge in preparation of herbal medicines for curing several ailments of man and domesticated animals. Ethnomedicobotanical study in 40 villages of Udalguri district of Bodoland Territorial Area District...

Despite tremendous benefits of present-day allopathic medicines, traditional remedies are still playing the most important role in curing various ailments. Numerous wild plants or traditional plant-based formulations are in use by the people in treating liver disorders or as hepatoprotective agents. Jaundice is a symptom of liver disorder. The aim...

D. Chatterjee established the genus Indofevillea with one species I. khasiana in 1946 and 1947 based on some specimens from Assam and Meghalaya (India). So far, all reports on the species, including the protologue, described only the male flowers and the description of fruit was insufficient. The present article reports the inflorescence, female fl...

Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst) Hoffm. (Marattiaceae), an endangered fern, utilized medicinally by several traditional societies across the world. Its use as food is rarely reported in literature. The rhizome of Angiopteris evecta is used by members of the Tangsa tribe, who live mostly in the Patkai Hills of the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh...

The role of different type of Chhyang in Monpa tribal community living in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh in NorthEast India which is almost inseparable from their regular social life. They speak in their own Monpa language. Production and consumption of chhyang is a traditional heritage for them. Three main types of Chhyang (= Chang/ Chha...

The aim of this study was to identify and document medicinal plants used by the traditional herbalists in Assam, India, for the treatment of respiratory diseases like pneumonia and asthma. A random household survey was carried out during 2018–2020 in selected districts and the data were obtained through direct interviews and observations using a se...

The giant honey bee, Apis laboriosa, is native to the central and eastern Himalayas, Hengduan, Arakan, Annamite and adjoining mountain ranges of Southeast Asia. The present work documented forage plants of A. laboriosa in a captive condition outside its natural geographic range for 09 months and tested their choice based on the abundance of the for...

The Lower Dibang Valley district is situated in Northeastern part of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. In tropical and subtropical parts of the district two local species of ginger ('Kekir': Zingiber sianginense Tatum & A.K. Das and 'Kedang' or 'Kero': Zingiber officinale Roscoe) are widely cultivated as cash-crop. Ginger is cultivated in wet s...

Phalap' or 'Phalap-khah' is a traditionally processed tea (Lungphi et al., 2019) made from the young leafy twigs of Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Royle ex Hook.) Steenis (Theaceae) by the people of the Tangsa tribal community living in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. The phytochemical investigation was done basica...

The present studies have significantly contributed to the methods of the phenological observations on 220 dominant and troublesome weeds of the Tea Gardens of Terai and Hills of Darjeeling district of West Bengal from ±125 m. to ±2010 m and also in in vitro condition. Repeated visit to different tea gardens in different months were made to record t...

Clerodendrum hastatum Lindl. (Lamiaceae) is a rare plant and is known to grow in India, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Due to its structure of leaf-lamina it looks different from other species of Clerodendrum. The presence of wide purple blotches on underside of lamina made it unique and the hastate lamina with purple blotches together make a good-characte...

This chapter depicts considerable information on traditional uses of medicinal plants by Tangsa tribe in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. This is the first quantitative ethnobotanical study from the area. Data were collected by interviewing 64 local informants and 07 traditional health practitioners from 11 villages of Changlang dist...

Lamiaceae Martinov, is the sixth largest angiosperm family and the largest within the order Lamiales, comprising of over 230 genera and more than 7000 species worldwide (Harley et al., 2004; Olmstead, 2016; APG IV, 2016). In flora of India, the family is one of the ten largest families represented by 67 genera and 399 species (Sampath Kumar et al.,...

The study deals with the distribution pattern and morphology of stomata and cystoliths in the leaves of six taxa of the genus Ficus of the family Moraceae in Arunachal Pradesh. All the plant species studied contained stomata and cystoliths, which vary in shape and size. Actinocytic stomata type was present in only one species (Ficus sp. 1). Anomocy...

Due to several overlaps of the primary pollen morphological attributes (viz., aperture type and exine sculpturing) throughout the subfamilies and tribes of Rubiaceae, they are of less importance in delineating majority of the taxa at the subfamilial and tribal levels than at generic and specific levels. This in turn renders difficulties in the iden...

Salacca secunda Griff. (Arecaceae) is know to be distributed in NE India, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. In India it is known to grow in states like Arunachal Pradesh (Patkai and Mishmi Hills of Eastern Himalaya), Assam, Nagaland and Darjeeling district of West Bengal. In existing literature description of the plant is quite insufficient. The pres...

A new species Phlogacanthus changlangensis P.Lungphi, A.V.Singh & A.P. Das, sp.nov. (Acanthaceae) has been recognized from the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The species is closely related to Phlogacanthus curviflorus (Wall.) Nees but with prominent differences. As per the present status of knowledge the new species is endemic to A...

Being located at the foot of the Darjeeling part of the Eastern Himalayas, Terai-Duars region is very rich in phytodiversity and unique habitats of a number of rare, endemic and threatened elements. Present study documented a total of 41 species (22 Endemic, 9 Endangered, 2 Near Threatened, 6 Vulnerable and 1 Critically Endangered) belonging to 27...

Being located at the foot of the Darjeeling part of the Eastern Himalayas, Terai-Duars region is very rich in phytodiversity and unique habitats of a number of rare, endemic and threatened elements. Present study documented a total of 41 species (22 Endemic, 9 Endangered, 2 Near Threatened, 6 Vulnerable and 1 Critically Endangered) belonging to 27...

The allelopathic effect of different concentration of leachates and extracts of six dominant weed species was studied on seed germination and early seedling growth of tea plants [Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze]. Almost in all the cases of leachates and extracts, the highest concentration (1:2.5) showed inhibitory effect on germination of seeds and s...

The richness of the flora of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India is well-known. Papum Pare district of it is situated on Assam border and its altitude varies from 170-2700 m amsl. An intensive survey for the climbing vascular plants of Rono Hills area of the Papum Pare district, which is mostly a tropical area, lead to the recognition of 120 speci...

The survey has revealed the fact that with the gradual inroad of modernity in life style including the use of synthetic medicines, the uses of these medicinal plants has been reduced considerable as compared to the earlier generations. Through this survey it has been found that now synthetic drugs are mostly used for the instant relief from fever...

The review has revealed the use of 401 plants used by three communities Nyishi, Tagin, and Hill Miri tribal communities living in the Subansiri River belt in Arunachal Pradesh, India to treat 107 aliments. The fact that with the gradual inroad of modernity in life style including the use of synthetic medicines, the uses of these medicinal plants ha...

Preservation of plant materials is a huge subject. Techniques differ for different groups or habits of plants and is also related to the purpose of preservation. Herbariums are the natural history museums storing and are displaying specially mounted dried and poisoned plant specimens meant for numerous scientific and social benefits. The article di...

Detailed pollen morphological account of four species of Maesa Forssk. (Primulaceae) [M. chisia, M. indica, M. macrophylla, M. rugosa] from Darjeeling Himalaya and its possible taxonomic implications have been investigated using light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains are 3-zonocolporate with reticulate exine having pro...

The present study was carried out in Behali Reserve Forest, a semi-evergreen forest of Assam, India to record and analyze the woody species diversity and community characteristics using random sampling. Altogether, 35 quadrats (20 m × 20 m) were randomly established and studied from August 2018 to April 2019 spreading across nine study sites. A tot...

The investigations of flora and fauna in Protected Areas provide important contributions to the knowledge on the status of unmanaged natural ecosystems. In 2017-2019, we studied the vascular plant flora of Behali Reserve Forest (Assam, India). The reserve forest covers 140.16 km 2 area of semi-evergreen forest. We investigated the taxonomic composi...

Cancer is a Death causing disease and its treatment has been a burden to many because of its side effects and costly treatments. This study targets to find alternative source of Synthetic treatment with much lower cost, therefore the study aims to evaluate and document some of the Anticancer plants found in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh, India with its e...

The present communication reports the occurrence of Ariopsis protanthera N.E. Br. (Araceae), for the first time from the state of West Bengal, India. The species has been recorded only form Kolbong area [27°07'1.43"N, 88°11'2.48"E; 1100 m] in Darjeeling hills of West Bengal. Detailed description with illustrations have been provided.

A floristic investigation was made during 2016-2018 to observe the tree diversity and their present status in the Jaldapara National Park (JNP) which is situated in the Duars region of West Bengal, India. A total of 294 species of trees belonging to 189 genera and 63 families, including 4 species of gymnosperms were recorded. Fabaceae (s.l.) with i...

Terai-Duars belt is covered by the IUCN recognised Himalaya Hotspot for biodiversity conservation and is rich in medicinally important herbs, shrubs and trees. The area is home to numerous rare and threatened species also. The present investigation recorded occurrence of 397 species of medicinally important plants belonging to 283 genera and 96 fam...

The present study was aimed to document the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge in Komkar-Adi Biocultural Landscape of Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh (Eastern Himalaya), India. Data was collected from three villages of Geku circle, Upper Siang District between the year 2016-2019, covering more than 50% of the total households using semi...

Boeica arunachalensis, a species new to the science from eastern Himalayan state of India, Arunachal Pradesh is described. Coloured photo plate and micrograph of new species and its allied species B. fulva Clarke are provided. Identity of B. griffithii Clarke is discussed and lectotype are designated here for B. filiformis Clarke, B. fulva Clarke,...

The present work has significantly contributed to the methods of weed control in tea gardens of Terai region of Darjeeling District of west Bengal. Chemicals need to work under the influences of local environment and the genetic makeup of the assemblages of taxonomically very widely diversified wild plants. However, presently increasing awareness a...

A B S T R A C T The present work has significantly contributed to the methods of weed control in tea gardens of Terai region of Darjeeling District of west Bengal. Chemicals need to work under the influences of local environment and the genetic makeup of the assemblages of taxonomically very widely diversified wild plants. However, presently increa...

Role of one hundred medicinal plants of Sikkim and Darjeeling part of Eastern Himalaya being cultivated at the Garden of Medicinal Plants of the University of North Bengal was studied in ethanol induced gastric ulcer in albino rats. Results showed that twenty-three medicinal plants viz. Asparagus racemosus Wild, Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wa...

Received revised 10.12.2012; Accepted 12.12.2012] Effect of leaves of Cassia alata Linnaeus on growth of Staphylococcus aureus Rosenbach was studied. Results showed that leaves of Cassia alata could inhibit growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Seasonal variations in this effect were also studied. It was found out that leaves of Cassia alata during the...

A survey among the tea garden workers in Darjeeling Terai and Darjeeling Hills was conducted. Workers are mostly Santhals and Oraons (in Terai) and Nepalese (in Hills). The survey recorded 150 species of edible plants representing 63 families. This includes 18 species of monocots (covering 11 families) and 128 species of dicotyledons (covering 48 f...

Fibres are the second most economically important plant based products after food. They serve innumerable roles in our day to day life, thereby making their presence indispensable. A survey was conducted from June 2017-July 2018 in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam, India for potential fibre yielding plants of the region. Out of the recorded...

After the re-discovery of Streptocaulon sylvestre Wight (Apocynaceae) interest grew for its conservation. The species has been declared as Critically Endangered (CR) by the Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India though attempt to its in situ conservation remained limited to the creation a 'Streptocaulon sylvestre Reserve' (SSR) within the...

Background: Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are defined as all biological materials other than timber, which are extracted from forests for human use. Uses of various NTFPs have shown significant progress in cultural subsistence, commercial purposes, bioprospecting and sustainable support to forest biodiversity. The present research was conducte...

Terai-Duars belt is covered by the IUCN recognised Himalaya Hotspot for biodiversity conservation and is rich in medicinally important herbs, shrubs and trees. The area is home to numerous rare and threatened species also. The present investigation recorded occurrence of 397 species of medicinally important plants belonging to 283 genera and 96 fam...

The annual herb Solanum villosum Mill. (Solanaceae) is reported here as a new distributional record to the flora of Arunachal Pradesh, India along with notes on its distribution in Eastern India. Detailed description of the species along with some coloured photographs and uses are provided here for its easy recognition in the field.

Lysionotus chatungii M.Taram, A.P Das & H.Tag, a new species of Gesneriaceae is describedfrom Geku in Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh in North-Eastern India. The newspecies is presented here along with its detailed description, habitat structure and distributionalong with a plate of color photographs for its easy recognition.

Satajan Beel (wetland) is situated in the North Lakhimpur District of Assam in Northeast India and is located between 27° 12' 23.7'' to 27° 12' 40.00'' N latitude and 94° 03' 08.5'' to 94° 03' 08.8'' E. longitude in the flood-plain of Ranganadi (Ranga River) at an altitude of 94 m. A survey during 2018-2019 led to the record of 262 species of vascu...

Leaf architectural characters of seven species of Phyllanthus L. (Phyllanthaceae) were studied on the basis of foliar morphometric characters. The characters studied include leaf attachment, petiole features, laminar shape, apex and base shape including angles, margin type, blade class vein category etc. Estimation of vein islet number and minor ve...

Aristolochia assamica D. Borah & T.V. Do (Aristolochiaceae), a new species from the East Himalayas (NE India) is described and illustrated. It has purplish to greenish terete stems, brownish ovate-lanceolate bracteoles with a short stalk at base and acuminate apex, cymes with 2–15 flowers, fasciculate, on extremely short inflorescence axes, a sessi...

North eastern and Eastern region of Indian Himalaya are well known as important biodiversity zones of the world. The biodiversity of these regions is under high anthropogenic pressure and fall within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot as recognized by the IUCN. Therefore, the entire region attracted botanists, plant lovers and plant hunters from r...

The Himalayas form a graceful and vast abode of floristic and faunal elements and also represent diverse human cultures spreading through its length and breadth. Eastern Himalayas, a biodiversity hotspot is not only a home to the world’s highest mountains but is also amongst the highest diversity rich areas of the world. The easternmost part of the...

The pollen morphology of seven species of the genus Bauhinia L. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioidae) namely Bauhinia acuminate L., B. malabarica Roxb., B. purpurea L., B. scandens L., B. tomentosa L., B. vahlii Wight & Arn. and B. variegata L. from the sub-Himalayan Terai-Duars region of West Bengal was examined with light and scanning electron microscop...

During the search of aroids in Arunachal Pradesh, one aroid plant was recorded from a place about 10 km away from Boleng town of Siang district, Arunachal, at an altitude of 430 m AMSL, with geographical location: 28 0 18' 24.83 N Longitude and E; 094 0 56' 86.73 E Latitude on 27 th May 2014. On critical analysis of morphological characters and sur...

Sisyrinchium rosulatum E.P.Bicknell (Iridaceae, Iridoideae, Sisyrinchieae), a native of South America, is recorded and described here as a newly naturalized species for the flora of Bhutan. Abstract INTRODUCTION

The Rajbanshi community in Duars of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal is traditionally using different kinds of plant parts as medicine. Present article discussed the medicinal plants used by them including different formulations. Leaves are the most used plant parts. However, their tradional knowledge is in danger as the facilities of modern civi...

In spite of many theoretical explanations, the plant richness pattern along the mountain elevation gradient is still debatable. Here we considered East district of Sikkim state in the Eastern Himalaya to study plant richness pattern of vascular plants along an elevation gradient of 500–3300 m at 100, 200 and 300 m elevation steps. The study evaluat...

Tangsa community of Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India, practices a unique tea processing technique producing a traditional tea product locally known as 'Phalap' or 'Felap' for daily consumption and they believe it to be anti-cancerous and anti-diabetic. A field survey and interview on the age old Phalap preparation was conducted from t...