Medicinal and economic uses of some introduced plant species and their conservation in the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic, Noida

Abstract

Plants are an important part of human communities and their conservation should be done on priority basis. These plant species have been used for medicinal and economic purposes by the tribal human communities for many centuries. In the 21^st century, many such plant species are under threat due to loss of habitats, over-exploitation, alien/invasive species and several other anthropogenic reasons. Thus, these plant species need to be conserved for the future generations before their permanent extinction from the planet earth. The Botanic Gardens have a very important role in their conservation. In the present study, an attempt has been made to conserve such medicinally and economically important plants at the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic (BGIR), Noida. Many plant species from all over India have been introduced in this garden for conservation since 2002. Out of them, a total of 51 species were selected and their medicinal and economic uses were studied and evaluated during the study along with other details like Hindi names, areas of distribution in India, and flowering and fruiting period at the BGIR. More details like the type of diseases treated from these plant species and particular plant parts used for the treatment have also been discussed. This paper will provide a comprehensive study of the uses of plant species conserved in the Botanic Garden from different phytogeographical regions of India.