Ethno-botanical studies of Mallotus philippenesis L. Mull...

Int. J. Med. Arom. Plants, ISSN 2249 – 4340RESEARCH ARTICLE

Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 434-446, September 2012

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Ethno-botanical studies of Mallotus philippenesis L. Mull. Arg on

Tribes of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Jaya SHARMA*, Ranjana VARMA, Alka VARMA

Department of Botany, Sarojini Naidu Govt. Girls Post Graduate (Autonomous) College, Shivaji Nagar, Bho-pal, Madhya Pradesh, India

*Corresponding Author, Mob. +91-9406527559

Article History: Received 6th July 2012, Revised 11th August 2012, Accepted 12th August 2012.

Abstract: Mallotus philippenesis L. Mull. Arg. Is a middle size woody plant, which grows in tropical dry deciduous for-est in India. The plant is a major source of income to the indigene nous communities living around the natural forests.Local peoples largely collects mallotus fruits, bark for commercial as well as medicinal purposes. The present deteriorat-ing condition of the species in the natural forest of Bhopal territorial forest division is very serious and needs immediateattention, not only for conservation but also for propagation. The harvesting practices, ecological status, commercial us-es, population decline and density of the plant shows that if control measures are not taken, the species fall into the ex-tinction from wild category in the near future. Ethno medicinal study of medicinal plant of mp of Bhopal district wasdone. In the present study of plant growing in forest, which are used by tribal’s if Bhopal. District for curing severaldiseases like skin disease, cough, snake bite, mosquito, diarrhea etc. The impact of modernization and commercializationof medical treatment has telling effect on the number of these uses and so proper documentation and preservation of thesepractices are essential. This is the cause of reduction of regeneration, less population and production of this useful medic-inal plant. Ex-situ conservation aspects and management of Mallotus philippenesis in the natural forests was discussed inthe present paper.

Keywords: Ethno medicine; Bhopal; documentation and preservation; Mallotus philippenesis.

Introduction

India has a rich bio diversity of medicinaland Aromatic plants and holds a unique place inthe world in the traditional system of medicine.In terms of the volume and value of medicinalplants exported India ranks second in the world.Most of the medicinal plants are naturally avail-able in Madhya Pradesh forests (Mishra 2011).The overexploitations of herbal resources in un-scientific manner by unskilled labor and poornatural regeneration have resulted in a virtualextinction of certain vital species of herbal flora.Lot of research work on standardizing method-ologies for sustainable uses of important medic-inal plants Mallotus philippenesis. Study indi-cates that the present position of natural forestsarea is and ethno botanical observation of Bho-pal and among the tribes. Later on wealth of In-dia reported that immature plants of Mallotusphilippenesis were collected maximum bark and

wood without much effort often from destruc-tive cultivation and of value additions work(Wealth of India, 2003).

Mallotus philippenesis (Lam.) M. Arg Fami-ly (Euphorbiaceae) is an important medicinalplant with various curative properties attributedto almost every part of plant. It is a woody treespecies widely distributed throughout tropicalIndia along with the fest of Himalaya fromKashmir eastwards up to 5000 ft all over thePunjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Assam, Burma,Singapore and from Sind, southwards to Bom-bay and Caylon. It is also reported as growing inChina, the Malaya Islands, Australia, Pakistanand Andaman Islands. The plant is known byvarious names like Kampallaka, Raktanga, andSpoon Wood. It is also known as Monky-facetree become fruiting time all plants are showingto red (Sharma et al., 2012).The extracts isolatedfrom different parts of this plant are used in tra-

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435Int. J. Med. Arom. Plants Ethno-botanical studies of Mallotus philippenesis

Sharma et al. http://[email protected]

ditional medicinal for curing various disordersfor instance the bark extract is been used as an-tibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial. Thefruits extract is used as anthelmintic, to heal ul-cers, wounds and tumours, stone in the bladder,useful in bronchitis, enlargement of spleen andother skin diseases. The dye prepared fromfruits, bark and roots has been used dying to silkand wool. The medicinal properties attributed tothis plant are mainly due to the presence of sev-eral Rotellerin in different parts of this plant(Sharma, 2011).

Currently the plant is facing a threat of ex-tinction due to destructive harvesting of plantparts for medicinal use as well as devastation ofits natural habitat by deforestation. This plantdifferent parts of this plant are used in tradition-al medicinal for curing various disorders for in-stance the bark extract is been used as antibacte-rial, antifungal and antimicrobial. The fruits ex-tract is used as anthelmintic, to heal ulcers,wounds and tumours, stone in the bladder, use-ful in bronchitis, enlargement of spleen and oth-er skin diseases. The dye prepared from fruits,bark and roots has been used dying to silk andwool. The medicinal properties attributed to thisplant are mainly due to the presence of severalRotellerin in different parts (Sharma et al.,2012).

Studied ethno botanical research develop-ment of less known medicinal plants of Bhopaldistricts of studied medicinal plant. Categoriesviz. Habitat (5), ecology (3), biology (6),use/trade (3), collection (4) and legal & institu-tional (4) with a total of 25 parameters wereidentified. All the parameters have been rankedinto three category namely- low, medium andhigh with scoring of 1,2 and 4 marks. Each ofthe species was studied and ranked on these pa-rameters. The author felt need to develop appro-priate program for conservation and sustainableutilization of medicinal plants particularly forthe health care of poor tribals and also to help intheir livelihoods.

Human culture has been augment by plantand products since time immemorial. Perhapsethno biology is the first science that originatedwith the evaluation or existence or existence of

man on this ehnobotany is the first science thatoriginated with the evaluation or existence ofman on this plant. Natural products’ as medi-cines, although neglected in the recent past aregaining popularity in the modern era. On aglobal scale, the current dependence on medici-nal system remains high, with a majority ofworld’s population still dependents on medici-nal plant to fulfill most of their healthcareneeds. Today it is estimated that about 64 % ofthe global population remain dependent on tra-ditional medicines (Farnsworth 1944). Nearly8000 species of plants were recognized as ofethno botanical importance (Anonymous 1994).

Thus the study of ethnomedical systems andherbal medicines as therapeutic agents is of par-amount importance in addressing health prob-lems of traditional communities and third worldcountries as well as industrialized societies.

In recent years, the use of plants in tradi-tional medicine has increased the interest in eth-no-botanical studies throughout the world. Infact, World Health Organization (WHO) esti-mates that 70% of populations from many coun-tries are using traditional or folk medicine tocure various ailments (Jiofack et al. 2010).

Bhopal is the capital city and the nerve cen-tre of Madhya Pradesh. It is a fast developingcity, rich in natural beauty. It is situated on theedges of two big lakes. It has a pleasant, moder-ate climate and quite less fluctuations in tem-perature. The climate is usually dry except inthe monsoon season, indicating a seasonalrhythm of the weather. The awareness about thefloristic composition is required for understand-ing the ecosystem of Bhopal geographical re-gion.

Bhopal district most part of Madhya Pradeshstate most of the village inhabitants of Bhopaldistrict belong to tribal communities. Major partof the district is covered by dense forest area inwhich various tribes. Out these tribal live closeto the forest and are largely dependent on thewild biological resources for their livelihood.They utilize various plant, parts, like, roots,bark, leaves, fruits, seed etc. to make themselvescomfortable and prepare simple formulationwith single plants are easily available.





Figure 1: A. Mature Plant, B. Female Flower, C. Male Flower, D. Fruit containing twig, E. PlantBark, F. Fruit cot with seeds.

The present communication gives result ofethno botanical survey done in Bhopal westernMadhya Pradesh. Used against various disordersamong the tribals of Bhopal District. Ethno bo-tanical surveys were conducted Jan-Des.2010 -

2011 in tribal inhabitant forest localities ofBhopal district for recording first hand infor-mation regarding the therapeutic properties ofthis plant. The collected information was crosschecked with the help of available of literature:





Detailed information regarding local names partused and mode of administration was recordersin field note books. The specimens were collect-ed from the field and identifier with the help oflocal regional Flores. The plant was identifiedby Botanical survey of India, CRC (BSI) Allah-abad, where voucher specimen code (1370-158-696) was deposited. Thus the principle objectiveof this study is to identify and document medic-inal plant on Mallotus philippenesis speciesused by the people in and around Bhopal districtfor curing various type of problems. For thisliterature search of such plants used in varioussystems of medicine and field survey in differ-ent areas of Bhopal district was undertaken. Thestudy did not cover the tribal communities butfocused on the villages surrounding the tribalpockets. Therefore the influence of tribal medi-cines ethnic practices discussed cannot be relat-ed out.

Material and methods

Study area

The present study was done in and aroundBhopal district, Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal has anaverage elevation of 427 metres (1401 ft). Bho-pal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh is locat-ed in the central part of India, and is just northof the upper limit of the Vindhya mountainranges. Located on the Malwa plateau, it ishigher than the north Indian plains and the landrises towards the Vindhya Range to the south.The city has uneven elevation and has smallhills within its boundaries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal). According to the report ofForest Survey of India the total forest cover is12.01% including the scrub which is less thanthe area reported under the land use classifica-tion while working plan of Bhopal forest divi-sion (T.) (1999) mentioned 15.77 % forest outof total geographical area of Bhopal.

Figure 2: Map of the study area.

Ethno medicinal data

The data was collected by directed interac-tion with the people who either administer thedrug or seethes medicines almost care was takein collecting the data. Ethno medicinal datawere collected by consulting the local healersand knowledgeable villagers. The study wasconducted by covering three different seasons(spring, rain, winter).A standard questionnairewas used to collect data, which includes localname of plant, and plant parts used, methods ofpreparation and approximate dosage of admin-istration. The uses of the plant species was veri-

fied in other villages cross checking the infor-mation with other respondents showing plant innatural habitat or a collected sample. The prima-ry data have been collected through variousfield surveys during the year 2010 to 2011 andthe secondary data were sourced from varioussources including forest department recorded.Data were also collected from other publishedand unpublished literatures etc. The field-basedstudies on sustainable uses of thes medicinalplant and socioeconomic dependence and de-velopment have been carried out in the selecteddistrict in Madhya Pradesh State. A total of 10



http://en.wikipedia



villages, 5 villages in each of 2 ranges were se-lected for the study. The study closely examinedpresent harvesting practices, ecological and so-cio-economic status etc. of Kampallika(Mallotus philippenesis) Random sampling em-ployed for collection of data and 20% house-holds were surveyed from each selected village.A structured schedule was canvassed to collectrequired primary and secondary data pertainingto forest area, infrastructure facilities etc. Theplants were initially identified by their vernacu-lar names through consultations with the localpeople.

Ecological observations

A standard summary sheet is prepared andthe information evaluated according to set ofcriteria of sustainability (Table 2) drawn fromHabitat, Plant biology & Ecology, their collec-tion & trade and causes of population decline.On the basis of the assessment, each species isscoring with assigned numbers (total 100). Atotal of 25 parameters were identified under sixbroad headings. For each parameter rate of scor-ing marks was fixed as given below. Based ontotal scoring of marks the species were rankedas critical, vulnerable (Kotwal, 2003). Scoring:Low =1, Medium = 2 and High =4 Ranking:Critical 25, Vulnerable =25-50 and Non vulner-able = >50The above assessment is comprehen-sive and provides a systematic checklist for col-lating and integrating information on a widerange of parameters. Intensive field observationswere taken in the study areas. The primarysources of data were field observations on theselected species and interviewing various stake-holders’ i.e. Vaidyas, medical practitioners,primary NTFP gatherers. Attempts were madeto know the degradation of natural habitats, bio-tic disturbances and exploitation pressure on theselected species. Discussions and minute fieldobservations were also done with local resourcepersons to draw valuable first hand information.

Details of parameters studiedVarious parameters have been categorized in

to 6 major categories i.e. Habitat (5), Ecology(3), Biology (6), Use/trade (3), Harvesting (4)and Causes of population decline (4). These pa-

rameters are based on the study of Kotwal(2003). However certain modifications havebeen made on the basis of field observations.All these parameters ranked into 3 categoriesnamely low, medium and high with scoring of1,2 and 4 marks. The basic objective of thisclassification is to study the ecological status ofthis plant species in Bhopal forest division ofMadhya Pradesh and examine the threats andcauses of population decline in various habitatsituations. Parameters in brief are given below:1. Habitat suitability: Each plant species re-quires special type of locality or habitat envi-ronment. They grow in particular places whilethey do not grow well under unsuitable condi-tions. The various components (abiotic) of habi-tat like soil, terrain, geography, and climate etc.form suitable environment to grow species in agiven habitat. These components do not changefrom time to time and affect the growth and oth-er aspects of the plant species. Looking to thescope of the present study, attempt has beenmade to indicate suitability of the habitat asleast suitable, suitable and highly suitable withconcomitant scoring of 1,2 and 4 marks.

2. Specificity: This species have specific re-quirement of a very particular type of habitatsuch as shade or total open areas, water loggingmarshy land or low lying areas. The plants witha specific habitat requirement are more vulnera-ble as compared to other plants capable of grow-ing in a variety of habitats.

3. Climate: Components like rainfall, humidityand temperature affect living organisms. Theabnormal climate like severe drought, frost orheavy rainfall affects the plant growth. Underthese conditions some susceptible herbs, shrubsor even tree dry/die due to extremes of theseclimatic factors. So the climate plays crucialrole in establishing plant as well as animalcommunity in a particular area. On the otherhand normal climatic conditions (rainfall &temperature) support to establish the plant.

4. Biotic disturbances: Recently various bioticdisturbances are common. These are fire, graz-ing, illicit felling etc beside the disturbancescaused by the human beings. The cattle popula-tion in the periphery of the forests has consider-





ably increased and affected the regeneration andgrowth of various plant species. The depend-ence of local villagers on nearby forests (forwood & fuel requirements) also damages theforests. All these factors affected the growth andnatural occurrence of medicinal plants particu-larly herbaceous species. In the natural forestareas where biotic disturbances were more, themedicinal plant growth and density are severelyaffected.

5. Protection level: At present protection andconservation of the natural forests are the primeimportance areas of concern. Protection fromvarious biotic disturbances provides betterchances of natural occurrences and growth ofmedicinal plants. In a natural forest area one canfind poor growth and health of plants, low den-sity deficit regeneration due to poor protection.

6. Occurrences: Most of the medicinal plantswere found in natural forests (wilderness areas)and some are cultivated also. The plants usuallyoccur in the areas like forest, garden, pastures,grasslands, agriculture, fencing and roadside etc.In case of its occurrence only in wilderness, theexploitation pressure may be more then produc-tivity.

Table 1: Detail information about the inform-ants of the study area.

S.No Name Age Gender Occupation Tribal area1 Moonger Singh 45 M Local tribe Koluaakala2 Khemchand 65 M Local tribe Harrakheda3 Maya bai 80 F Local tribe Koluaakala4 Pappu 35 M Local tribe Rasolee5 Narayan singh 80 M Medicine man Virolee6 Seataan singh 38 M Local tribe Khajooree7 Dharmandra 35 M Farmer Jamuniya8 Kamlesh 30 M Farmer Jamuniya9 Hukumchand 28 M Farmer Billkhirya

10 Priya 16 F Student Jamuniya11 Lakshme bai 25 F Local tribe Kharbai12 Radheshayam 60 M Farmer Khejda13 Shayam ji 75 M Vaidhyya Mamolee14 Pant ji 70 M Vaidhyya Mohlee15 Ashoklal 55 M Local tribe Pinen16 Sarita bai 35 F Local tribe Chopda17 Lakshame 65 F Local tribe Pipariya18 Retesh varma 23 M Medicine man Narela shankari19 Kallu singh 60 M Local tribe Virolee20 Bohri bai 45 F Chopda21 Kanchan bai 28 F Local tribe Koluaakala22 Rupesh thakur 33 M student Khejda23 Reena varma 26 F Local tribe Harrakheda24 Kusum 56 F Local tribe Koluaakala

Table 2: Various ecological parameters andranking of species under natural forest condi-tions. Scoring: Low =1, Medium = 2 and High=4 Ranking: Critical 25, Vulnerable =25-50 andNon vulnerable = >50

Parameters Low Medium HighA. HabitatHabitat suitability Least suitable Suitable Highly suitableHabitat specificity Very specific Less specific Not specificClimate (Rainfall,Temp.)

Harsh (Verysensitive)

Sub nor-mal(sensitive)

Normal(Lesssensitive)

Biotic disturb-ance(Grazing, fire)

Common Frequent Least

Protection level Poor Good Very goodB. Plant ecologyOccurrences Wild Cultivated WildDistribution Fragment Patchy ContiguousAbundance Scanty Occasional CommonC. Plant biologyGrowth poor Medium GoodFlowering poor Good Very goodFruiting poor Good Very goodSeeding poor Medium GoodRegeneration poor Medium ProfusePest & Disease Epidemic Frequent FewD. Use/TradePlant Whole plants,

rootsLeaves, seeds Fruits, bark, seeds

Other used(wood,tannin, fiber, etc)

3 Uses 2 uses 1 use

Trade Commercial Localized SpecificE. HarvestingHarvesting stage Premature Sub-mature MatureHarvesting extent Total Partial LeastHarvesting method Destructive Partly destruc-

tiveNon destructive

Harvesting people Outsid-ers/Commercial

Un-organized Organized/local

F. Causes of population declineOver exploitation bylocal

Poor Partly effective Effective

High demand tomarket for multipleuse

Scanty Some Common

High cost of prod-uct/plant

Few Some Frequent

Technicalknowledge/trainingawareness aboutspecies

Least Some Frequent

7. Distribution: The distribution of plant spe-cies in the natural forests depends upon factorslike seed dispersal, germination, establishmentof seedlings and growth. The suitability of thehabitat and extent of biotic disturbances alsoaffect distribution. Fragmented distribution willscore less mark as compared to contiguous dis-tribution.

8. Abundance: this plant is of common occur-rence in a variety of habitats over a relativelylarge area while others have exacting habitatrequirements and do not occur everywhere.





Plants of common occurrence would score moremarks as compared to those of scanty or occa-sional occurrence.

9. Growth: Plant grows under various habitatand environmental conditions. Vigorous growthof all parts of the plants shows suitability of theplant to the environmental conditions of thatparticular area. In normal conditions the plantmay achieve good growth and may score moremarks as compared to poor growth.

10. Flowering: A number of medicinal plantsflower once in a year, some time twice in a year.Similarly flowering takes place uniformly everyyear or good in alternate years and poor in leanyears. Several climatic factors, diseases also af-fect the flowering. More often the good flower-ing may lead to good fruiting and seeding. Goodflowering score more marks then poor flower-ing.

11. Fruiting: In most of vascular plants afterflowering the fruiting take place and it dependsupon the extent of flowering. Good fruitingscore more marks then poor fruiting.

12. Seeding: Seeding also expresses the repro-ductive growth of the plant. The seeding de-pends upon the fruiting of plants. Good and fer-tile seeding would score more marks then poorseeding.

13. Regeneration: Each plant has a definite cy-cle (time period) and the long term survival ofthe plant species is dependent on regeneration.This can be done either by vegetative means orby seeds or by both means. More seed wouldensure better chances of regeneration. A planthaving capacity to regenerate by both meanswould score more marks.

14. Pest & diseases: A healthy plant will havenormal growth, flowering, fruiting and seedingas compared to an infected plant. In the naturalforest areas some medicinal plants species aresusceptible to various diseases and some are notstrong. Vigorous and healthy plant would scoremore marks than the diseased ones.

15. Plant parts used: Each medicinal plant hasparts like root, seed, fruit flower and leaves. Useof whole plant by uprooting caused more dam-age than leaves or seeds harvesting. Such usesscore fewer marks.

16. Other uses (wood, tannin, fiber etc.): Eve-ry plant species is variously used by man, be-sides its medicinal use. The plant might haveother uses like fuel, fiber, fodder, timber etc.More number of uses of single plant would exertmore exploitation pressure on that particularplant species and would score lesser marks.

17. Trade: Over-harvesting of medicinal plantsfor commercial purposes may increase more ex-ploitation pressure as compared to limited orspecific use and would score fewer marks.

18. Harvesting stage: Harvesting of medicinalplants require scientific approach. It is necessaryto understand that which part of the plant or atwhich stage of its growth medicinal constituentsis optimum. In case of medicinal plants it wasgenerally observed that primary collectors col-lect plant at an early stage of maturation due tocompetition among other villagers. To collectmore and more they started harvesting beforeflowering and fruiting. These immature collec-tions are the main cause of poor quality of mate-rial from the forests and also degradation. Hencepremature collection would score less marks.19. Harvesting extent: The extent of harvesta-ble part is an important parameter to assess inthe natural forests. Mostly people harvest me-dicinal plants totally from the forest withoutleaving behind seeds for further regeneration.Total harvesting of plant from the forests is notdesirable and would score fewer marks as com-pared to partial harvesting.

20. Harvesting method: Sustainable harvestingimplies that annual extraction does not exceedthe annual accretion. Sustainable extraction ofNTFPs has recently gained considerable atten-tion to conserve tropical forests and as a meas-ure to enhance the income of rural and tribalpeople. Over harvesting of NTFPs have nega-tive effects on conservation of bio-diversity inmainly forest ecosystems in India. A number of





NTFPs are destructively harvested by prematurecollection of fruits, seeds, roots, rhizome etc

21. Harvesting done by people: It is said thatnatural forests are open bank and are accessibleto all at any time for collecting NTFPs. Aftergetting more knowledge about the trade andavailability, people from outside the villages(big town/adjoining revenue villages where for-est area is less) come to the forest fringe villagesand collect the plant in unsustainable way usingdestructive techniques of harvesting like uproot-ing of whole plant felling, cutting etc. Due tomore competition among the villagers, localpeople are also involved in such practices,which earlier they were not used to. Hence localpeople residing near forest have a major role inharvesting of medicinal species.

22. Over exploitation by locals: In a naturalforest some medicinal species are relativelyabundant, whereas many others are moderatelyavailable and few important species are concen-trated only in certain pockets, which are mostlythreatened. Competition has resulted in the har-vest of few species from the more accessiblesites being completed before maturation of usa-ble parts. The bulk is picked when the growthonly 2/3rd or even half of their potential size bythe locals. It is a clear threat in restoration ofthese important herbs.

23. High demand to market for multiple uses:All the medicinal plant species are not in greatdemand in the national as well as internationalmarkets. Most of the medicinally important treespecies have high medicinal value for which thepeople collect due to high demand in the mar-ket. However some species are less useful andtherefore in less demand.

24. High cost of product/ plant: Most of themedicinal herbs, which are considered as eco-nomically profitable in harvesting from the wil-derness. There are several species that are inhigh demand by the traders. Over exploitation ofa particular plant from the natural forest mostlydepends upon the high cost of the plant productin the market. Less quantity of product (Forest)also sometimes become cause of high rate ofplant in the market.

Table 3: Assessment of various ecological pa-rameters to study the status of Mallotusphilippenesis L. Mull. Arg. in Bhopal forest di-vision (Avg. of 02 forest ranges).Scoring: Low =1, Medium = 2 and High =4Ranking: Critical 25, Vulnerable =25-50 andNon vulnerable = >50Parameters Low Medium HighA. HabitatHabitat suitability ....... …… Highly suitableHabitat specificity Very specific …….. ……Climate (Rainfall,Temp.)

……. Sub - normal ……

Biotic disturb-ance(Grazing, fire)

Common …… ……

Protection level Poor ……. ……Sub total 3 2 4Scoring under habitat9 out of 20 (45.00%)B. Plant EcologyOccurrences Wild ……. ……Distribution …… PatchyAbundance Scanty ……. ……Sub total 2 2 ……Scoring under Plantecology 4 out of 12(33.33%)C. Plant biologyGrowth ……. Medium …..Flowering ……. GoodFruiting Poor Medium GoodSeeding Poor ……. ……Regeneration …… Poor ……Pest & Disease ….. Frequent ……Sub total 2 4 4Scoring under Plantbiology 10 out of 24(41.66%)D. Use/TradePlant Whole plants,

rootsBark, root Fruit, seed,

BarkOther used(wood,tannin, fiber, etc)

Very im-portant

2-3 uses Very important

Trade …. Localized ……Sub total 1 6 4Scoring underUse/trade 11 out of12 (91.66%)E. CollectionHarvesting stage ….. ….. ……Harvesting extent Total ….. ……Harvesting method seed …… …..Harvesting people Less Un- organizedSub total 3 2 ……Scoring under collec-tion 5 out of 16(31.25%)F. Causes of population declineOver exploitation bylocal

Poor ……. Very high

High demand tomarket for multipleuse

……. Some ……

High cost of prod-uct/plant

……. Some ……

Technicalknowledge/trainingawareness aboutspecies

……. some …….

Sub total 3 4Scoring under Causesof population decline7 out of 16 (43.75%)





25. Technical knowledge/training awarenessabout species: Due to lack of technical know-how about ecology, harvesting management andcultivation of medicinally important species andawareness about locally available medicinalplants among the primary collectors/local peo-ple caused bio-diversity loss and hampered thegrowth and regeneration of several species inthe natural forests. Hence, total awareness of allaspects of plant life and good collection and cul-tivation practices is needed now days. Due tolack of awareness about harvesting, value addi-tion, processing and marketing, the medicinalwealth is depleting at a faster rate particularlywhere plants were harvested from the naturalforest. Technical skills are much more needednow a day for conserving forest. Wealth andtheir sustainable management. Less awarenessabout the medicinal species among

26. The primary collectors scored fewer marksas wealth and their sustainable management.Less awareness about the medicinal speciesamong compared to more awareness, which isgood sign of sustainability.

Results and discussion

Ethno medicinal Information

In the present study ethno medicinal uses ofthis plant species of Bhopal district, MadhyaPradesh has been documented. These plantswere most commonly used in the treatment ofdiarrhea and typhoid, cut, skin problem wounds,pain etc. This plant is belongs to Euphorbiaceae.The parts of the plant most commonly used inthe treatment of disease were fruits, stem bark,leaves and root. These were mainly used infresh condition. Various parameters have beenput in 6 groups’ namely- habitat, plant ecology,plant biology, use/trade, harvesting and causesof population decline. Each group of parameterswas discussed in brief for Bhopal forest divi-sion.

The present communication documents ofthis plant species. That is traditionally valued.The plant used are in many case are immediate-ly available as therapeutic, edible, fodder andfiber. The herbal remedies and effective againstcuts and wound from, diarrhea, typhoid eye dis-eases skin problem.

The survey revealed that the tribals and oth-er in habitants of the area have soundknowledge about the uses of medicinal plantsavailable in the region. unfortunately the tribalsare not interested to share their traditionalknowledge with other developing intimacy withsome knowledgeable and experiment medicinemen, and other traditional healers, some infor-mation on medicinal uses of the species hasbeen reported earlier, Although a brief accounton ethno medicinal uses of documented plantspecies has been verified by cross-checking withthe medicine, knowledgeable persons healersand experienced information of the region evenfurther investigation pharmaceutically therapeu-tic as well as safety as pacts are very much de-sired for human well fare.

The survey includes this plant belonging toEuphorbiaceae family. Different plant parts suchas root, leaves bark, fruit etc. The flora of Bho-pal was found to be rich in medicinal plantswhich are used in various problems. Most ofthis plant is seen to be growing in natural condi-tions and in order to keep their existence. It isessential to record important information re-garding their uses as these plants could be onthe way of extinction due to negligence.

Various parameters have been put in 6groups’ namely- habitat, plant ecology, plantbiology, use/trade, harvesting and causes ofpopulation decline. Each group of parameterswas discussed in brief for Bhopal district.

1. Habitat: It is well known fact that medicinalplants are affected by the habitat conditions. Inthis forest division Mallotus philippenesis hasscored maximum marks 9 out of 20 (or 45%) ascompared to other parameters studied. The lowdensity and regeneration indicates its scanty oc-currence and rarity in the study area.

2. Plant Ecology: There are several parametersto assess the ecology of selected medicinalplant. However, only few were considered like-occurrence in wilderness, cultivation and both.The species having fragmented distribution inspecific habitats of species would score lowmarks. Lowest marks (4 out of 12) in this regardindicate problems in respect of their ecology.





This species have fragmented distribution andpatchy abundance in their habitats

3. Plant biology: The various important factorsof the plants like- flowering, fruiting, seeding,regeneration, resistance to pest and diseases etcplay important role in plant growth. In case ofBiachandi, the regeneration is seriously ham-pered because fruits are collected for medicinalpurposes & plants were completely uprootedfrom the ground as the fruit contains high me-dicinal value and therefore, mature seed produc-ing plants were removed from the forest. Withreference to plant biology parameter, the planthas scored more marks 10 out of 24 (or41.66%), as compared to other parameters.

4. Use/Trade: fruits of Mallotus philippenesisare being commercially traded in the local aswell as national markets. The extent of harvest-ing under wild conditions depends on the part,which contains more medicinal and trade value.Use of fruits entire plant would score fewermarks and use on large scale trade also scorelessmarks then local use or specific scale. However,the species scored more marks 11 out of 12 (or91.66%) due to use of its fruits for commercialpurposes.

5. Harvesting: Over harvesting of fruits dependupon the market demand, availability and highrate (of harvested part) of the plant, which havemedicinal use. Due to low income from suchtype of harvesting, the primary collectors startedmore and more harvesting which ultimatelyposed exploitation pressure on the species. The-se unsustainable practices lead to poor medici-nal value of plant, which is harmful in manufac-turing Ayurvedic medicines. Hence, immatureharvesting scored fewer marks 5 out of 16. Totaluprooting of the plants from the ground floorwithout leaving any part for future regeneration,adversely affects plant growth under wilderness.Thus total harvesting scored lesser marks. Thesetypes of destructive methods of harvestingwould score fewer marks. Inter competitionamong the villagers to harvest more and morealso leads to dangerous condition. This damageto the plants would score fewer marks. Mallotusphilippenesis scored minimum marks (31.25%)mainly due to unsustainable harvesting and

whole plant. Because of high market demandand value, the seeds of were harvested destruc-tively hence the availability of plant in the wildconditions become rare. Scoring of less/fewermarks indicates more threats and unsustainablemethod of collection of fruits.

6. Causes of population decline: The primarycauses like human population growth, habitatloss & degradation and socio economic situa-tions etc. in combination affect population den-sity. The human activities that cause habitat de-struction are mainly intensive corporate farm-ing, urbanization, grazing, road building, pollu-tion, the introduction of non-native species, fireetc. Trade related issues like commercial tradeof medicinal plant and their derivatives is a bigbusiness. The plants that have high cost in themarket scored fewer marks while low costscored more marks (7 out of 16). Similarly,plants which have high demand in market formultiple use, scored less marks as compared toplant which have less demand.

Table 4: Scoring of marks for Mallotusphilippenesis species under various parametersstudied in Bhopal district.

Category Parameters Totalmarks

Number obtained and % ofmarks

A Habitat 20 9(45.00%)B Plant ecology 12 4(33.33%)C Plant biology 24 10(41.66%)D Use/Trade 12 11(41.66%)E Harvesting 16 5(31.25%)F Causes of popula-

tion decline16 7(43.75%)

Total 100 46.00%

The present deteriorating condition ofMallotus philippenesis plant in Bhopal district isvery precarious and needs immediate attentionnot only for conservation but also for propaga-tion. Present study clearly shows that the posi-tion of Mallotus philippenesis in the natural for-est areas is very alarming in terms of less num-ber of plants per hectare, and poor plant quantityand quality. The species falls under criticallyendangered category in the natural forests ofBhopal Forest division. The natural regenerationis also adversely affected due to immature har-vesting of fruits /plant.





Figure 3: Semi-structured interviews for data collection by Investigator author A. tribal with investi-gator at Mamolee B. tribal with investigator at Harrkheda C. Survey team with author D. A Farmerwith investigator at Jamuniya E. A medicine man with Investigator. F. vaidhya with Investigator atKhajda. G. medicine man with investigator at Virolee. H. A farmer with investigator I. tribal withinvestigator at Koluakalan J. Investigator with forest officials.





The competition for early collection amongthe locals living around the forests was moreintense. The method of plant collection was notscientific and it affects the growth and occur-rence of plant. Mishra (2000) reported presentharvesting practices of critically endangeredCurcuma caesia and Rauvolfia serpentina spe-cies are very deteriorating because of high priceof product in the national & international mar-kets, immature collection by locals, poor regen-eration & population density. Prasad et. al.(2001), Mishra et al. (2004), Mishra, (2009),Mishra and Kotwal (2009), also reported thatthe current position of Mallotus philippenesis inthe natural forest and protected areas is veryalarming in terms of less number of plants perhectare, and poor tuber quantity and quality.

They recommended that there is need toimmediately stop the unsustainable harvestingof the plant by the local people and contractors.

It was also observed that the local collectorlargely collects its fruits and bark for commer-cial and medicinal purposes. This plant is a ma-jor source of income to the villagers/tribals liv-ing adjoining to the forests. Immature fruits ofMallotus philippenesis were mercilessly uproot-ed to collect maximum bark and fruits withoutmuch effort after the commencement of (early)rains. This practice needs to be stopped other-wise not only the availability of plant will be-come less and scarce, this valuable medicinalplant species may disappear altogether, causingeconomical as well as ecosystem misbalances.Sustainable management implies that extractionshould not exceed regeneration. Umashankar etal. (1996) and several others (Browder 1996;Homma 1992; Nepstad et al. 1992) are of theview that unless levels of harvests are linkedwith total productivity, a sustainable level ofextraction may be difficult to achieve. The pre-sent harvesting system of Mallotus philippenesisis ecologically and socio-economically unsus-tainable. Apart from destructive harvesting andlack of value addition, general absence of locallevel institutions deprive the collectors fair andjust wages for their works. There is no mecha-nism to discourage premature harvesting.

The transport of this species as a non-nationalised produce does not require any transit

pass and therefore forest department does nothave reliable statistics on the actual extraction.

Conclusion

Herbal therapy is not only cost effective butprovides means for the treatment of many dis-eases, which are considered to be incurable inother system of medicines. From the fore goingaccount it is very clear that the tribal’s of Bho-pal district are number of medicine of plantorigin. They are consuming this plant for vari-ous diseases related various types of problem.these plant are also in uses as insecticidesagainst snake bite etc. this study has show thatthis plant immense medicinal & economic usesin different systems of medicine in Bhopal dis-trict. Though it has such medicinal & economicproperty it is now rarely available and has beencategorized as in endangered plant could be onewariness about its uses in general public as wallas is difficult in natural reproduction’s differentmethods’ of its conservation & propagationshould be adopted so as to prevent its extinction.

Acknowledgements: The first author is thank-ful to the people of the Bhopal district whokindly shared their indigenous knowledgethroughout the field study. Without their partic-ipation this research would not have possible.Authors are grateful to Mr. Shashi Sharma(Technical Engineer, Govindpura Bhopal, M.P.,and India) for their immense co-operation &logistic support in field visits, without him thisresearch study could not be possible. We mustalso thank him for his valuable inputs to im-prove & for their constructive comments on ear-lier drafts of this manuscript. And my surveyteam Mr. Ajay Sharma (Sample collector),Miss. Shanti Sharma (Photographer) for his val-uable suggestion during our study and to im-prove our manuscript.

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