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Contents: Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgement. 1. Introduction. 2. List of threatened medicinal plants in India. 3. Plant monograph. 4. Photographs of interesting aromatic and medicinal plants. 5. Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. 6. Propagation of medicinal and aromatic plants. 7. Harvesting and processing. 8. Chemical constituents of medicinal plants. 9. Remedies for common ailments. 10. Herbal healing. 11. Preparation of herbal remedies. 12. Essential oils. 13. Bibliography. 14. Index for botanical names. 15. Glossary of medical terms.

This book entitled “Bengal Plantae Medica” is the compilation of six hundred five medicinal plants found in the entire state of West Bengal. It is well established fact that the Himalayan Region is full of Medicinal plants. May be because of this reason, the epic ‘The Mahabharata’ mentions that Hanumana came to the Himalayas and took ‘Sanjivni’ to save the life Laxmana. Considering the large number of medicinal plants available in Darjeeling Himalaya, where hundreds of such plants are available and are being used by the local people for care of various ailments, most of the plants enumerated are from this region. The plants that are used by the people of the plains of West Bengal are also included. Care has been taken so that anyone trying to identify and know the status of such plants could readily get such information from this book. The local names of the plants in Nepali, Bengali and Hindi along with the English names are also incorporated for easy identification in local level wherever possible. The parts of the plants used like whole plant parts, bark, leaves, fruits, seeds, roots, tubers, flowers etc. used as medicine are also given. The ailments/diseases that are cured by using such plants are given under medicinal uses which will help people who would like to give it a try. For easy identification of plants colour plates of as many plants as possible is given in the book. One of the most important part of this book is that the status of all the plants with updated botanical names and family is presented which can be an easy reference for research scholars, scientists researching for those who are interested in conservation of plants.