study on the grass flora of 6 Wildlife Sanctuaries of North Andaman Island was surveyed. True grasslands are absent in the study area as these regions mainly composed of Littoral and Inland kinds of forests with thick and closed canopy. Nineteen grass species under eighteen genera are included in the present study and described in detail.

Caryota urens, commonly known as Indian Sago palm, Wine palm, Toddy palm, Fish tail palm and Salap in Odia, is naturally found in  almost all districts of Odisha. The palm produces three things, viz., fibre from leaf, sheath, frond and flowering stalk, drink from inflorescence stalk and sago from stem. The coarse fibre extracted mechanically by beating  leaf sheath, petiole and  flowering stalk is called kittul. In this work an attempt has been made to extract the fine kittul fibre by cooking leaves in 0.5% (W/V) urea and water solution followed by retting in the cold solution of same concentration for 18 days. The rope, cordage, etc. prepared from Kittul fibre is as strong as plastic fibre and is also biodegradable.

Forty half sib progenies in open pollinated seedling seed orchard of Grewia optiva Drummond were evaluated for morphometric and fodder quality traits. The analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences among the various half sib families for all the traits. The experimental results revealed that out of 40 families, ten families viz., SI-15, SO-3, HA-2, HA-3,HA-4,SO-7,SH-7,SO-4,SI-6 and  SI-14 were found superior on the basis of overall mean performance for all quantitative and qualitative traits under study. Hence, these ten half sib families in the seedling seed orchard can be used in further breeding programme and providing mother’s replica.

Among the 40 medicinal plant species of alpine zone for which Kandara MPCA has been declared for in-situ conservation only three globally significant medicinal plants viz. Aconitum heterophyllum (Endangered as per IUCN Red List), Picrorhiza kurrooa (Endangered) and Nardostachys jatamansi (Critically Endangered as per IUCN Red List) have been selected for in-situ conservation. The enrichment was standardized through planting seedlings, rhizomes and seeds from the natural populations in the MPCA at lower, middle and upper 1/3^rd portions of the hill slopes in compartment 3b of Kandara MPCA. The upper 1/3^rd portion of the hill slopes showed highest survival (52% seedlings and 42% from seeds) for Aconitum heterophyllum and 60% for seedlings, 42 % for rhizomes/stolons and 33 % for seeds of Picrorhiza kurrooa respectively in comparison to middle and lower 1/3^rd portion of the hill slope.  Seedlings performed better as compared to rhizomes and seeds in terms of survival percent. Therefore, enrichment planting through nursery raised seedlings can be an effective method for in-situ conservation of these medicinal plant species in their natural habitat.

The paper reports abnormalities in fruits of Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb. ex G.Don observed in the planted trees.

The study investigates the effect of different growth regulators on seed germination of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) in North East India.

The present paper deals with the study of 72 weed species belonging to 63 genera and 26 families occurring around the Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar. The botanical name, family and plant parts used for each species are given along with its medicinal uses. Out of 26 families, Asteraceae and Fabaceae appeared to be dominant with 11 species, Amaranthaceae with 6 species, Solanaceae with 5 species, Euphorbiaceae with 4 species and Brassicaceae with 3 species.

The paper highlights the use of Andrographis paniculata (Kalmegh) to cure diabetes.

The present paper deals with 8 plant species used by the tribals to cure stone in kindey. The botanical names followed by local names, family, VSN, the method of preparation of drug and mode of uses of the plants are mentioned.

A conscious effort is certainly needed to provide pure and cleaned forms of plants based drugs for preparation of safe and efficacious herbal formulations. However, such genuine efforts are a rarity.  Most often, botanical drugs traded come to users in the form of crude drugs /coarse-finely powdered materials /depilated/ dis-coloured/ mixed forms, which makes the identification of the raw materials, a challenging task with ambiguity. In order to have control on Quality Assurance in herbal industry, an integrated approach of pharmacognosy discipline plays a vital role in authentications and certification of genuine plant materials. To facilitate this process, various tools such as taxonomic evaluation to microscopic studies; gene sequencing to phyto-chemical studies are employed.  In this article, an attempt has been made to develop a simple diagnostic key based on analysis of trichome characters for 14 botanical entities, which are recorded to be used as Balaa in various popular Ayurvedic formulations and traditional practices.

Vernonia amygdalina Delile is an important medicinal plant of family Asteraceae and grows predominantly in the Tropical Africa. The whole plant has gained a wide range of application for the treatment of various ailments such as diabetes, malaria, gastrointestinal disorders, stomachache, skin infections, pneumonia etc. and most importantly the plant has anti cancerous property. The present paper deals with the botany, medicinal uses, propagation and conservation aspects of the multi-utilitarian species.