Scientific Name Cassia fistula Linn.

Family Caesalpiniaceae (Fabaceae)



Used Part Root.



Distribution Area A deciduous medium-sized tree, occurring in

deciduous forests throughout the greater part of India, ascending up to an altitude of 1,220 m in the sub- Himalayan

tract and outer Himalayas.

Scientific Name Bambusa arundinacea (Retz) Willd. ( B. arundinacea (Retz.) Roxb.; syn. B. bambos Druce) Family Poaceae Used Part Bamboo manna. Distribution Area Distributed throughout the moist parts of India, up to an altitude of 1,250 m, also cultivated in the plains of North-West India, and on the hills of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Scientific Name Woodfordia fruticosa (L.)Kurz. (W. fruticosa Kurz syn. W.floribunda Salisb.) Family Lythraceae Used Part Flowers. Distribution Area A shrub, commonly occurring throughout North India, ascending to an altitude of c. 1,500 m. in the Himalayas, but rather scarce in South India. Common Uses . The dried flowers are credited with stimulant and astringent

Lucrative alternative All this, says Ibrahim, is good news for Malawi, where most people live on less than US$1 a day. He says jatropha could be a lucrative alternative to tobacco, Malawi's agricultural mainstay and principal source of foreign exchange. As global demand for tobacco falls, and the cost of inputs such as fertilisers increases, many farmers in Malawi are feeling the squeeze. "The biodiesel crop campaign has come at the right time, just as the country is looking for an alternative to tobacco," says Alic Kafasalire, a capacity building specialist for the Coordination Unit for the Rehabilitation of the Environment in Malawi.

Folk Medicine

Out of the total 4,20,000 flowering plants reported from the world Govaerts, 2001) more than 50,000 are used for medicinal purposes