Pharmacognostical studies on Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br. Anita Kumari and Ashwani Kumar Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae) is a wild shrub, which grows upto a height of 1-3 m and its leaves are 10-13 cm wide by 17-19 cm long. Calotropis procera commonly known as Akra is a popular medicinal plant. This plant is very drought resistant and grows throughout the Sahelian countries, notably in Burkina Faso. Medicinal properties:

Scientific Name Apium graveolens Linn. Family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) Used Part Fruits. Distribution Area An erect, annual or biennial herb, wild in the foot-hills of north-western Himalayas and the outlying hills of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Some of these plants of family Fabaceae are as follows :- 1. Acacia catechu Willd. ‘Khair’ (Mimoeaceae) :- The bark decoction is taken in the morning and evening for 3 days in stomachache . 2. Bauhinia vahlli W. and A. ‘Mahul’ (Caesalpiniaceae) :- Root decoction is taken 3 times a day for 4 days in fever. 3. Bauhinia variegata Linn. ‘Kachnar’ (Caesalpiniaceae) :- The bark decoction is administered orally for 15 days twice a day in tubercular glands. The flower powder is used 3 times a day for 10 days in haemorrhage. 4. Butea monosperma O.Kuntze. ‘Palas , Tesu’ (Paplionaceae):- Flowers and seeds are mixed in a decoction and used 2 times a day as wormicide. The bark decoction is used once a day for 1 month as tonic in piles.

Many plant names appear in similes and metaphors in Hindi literature e.g. the red lips of the beloved have been compared with red flowers of kachnar (Bauhinia variegata Linn.) and of the silk cotton tree. In a Magahi song there is a mention of sandalwood (Santalum album Linn.) tree crying when the king takes Vanaprastha and becomes a Yogi. Aryani, 1965 stated that how beautiful is such personification of the qualities of plants and their parts in the human beings? Folk proverbs : Things which cannot be remembered or explained easily are learnt, taught and emphasised through proverbs. A person who understands the tricks of the cunnings tell him that Tum dar dar Hum pat pat i.e. I will keep away from you.

Plant genetic transformation and molecular markers By Ashwani Kumar Pointer Publishers Jaipur India pp 288 ISBN 978-81-7132-613-6 The last three decades have seen momentous developments in plant transformation technologies; such that a large number of transgenic crop plants have now been released for commercial production. Advances in the technology have been due to

Biotechnology for food, health and environment Ashwini Kumar Department of Botany University of Rajasthan Jaipur 302004. biotechnology has been increasingly applied to crop agriculture. The manipulation of whole organisms, populations of organisms and nucleic components holds much promise for improving crop productivity designing crops for specific environments Monsanto (St Louis, MO, USA), Novartis (Basel, Germany) and Archer, Daniel, Midlands (ADM) (Decatur, IL, USA) believe so Genetic engineering is applied for crop improvement. Designing crops for specific environments. The enhancement of nutrient availability, Pest and disease control, The production of herbicide resistance in crop plants and Tolerance to a variety of environmental stresses.