Accessing the himalayan herbs traded in the streets of itahari by sherpa community of Taplejung, Nepal

Sherpa community are the oldest ethnic groups of Himalayas and chiefly known for their ability to climb mountains and their knowledge on medicinal plants found in the high Himalayas. The main objective of this study was to document the medicinal plants available for trade-in Itahari. The study reported 40 species of medicinal plants belonging to 34 families from an interview with twelve herbal traders. The habit of the medicinal plant recorded were herbs (53%), trees (20%), shrubs (13%), vines (8%), fungus (5%), and lichen (3%). Herbal medicines were mostly found for curing minor diseases like cuts, wounds to major diseases like jaundice, typhoid, and also cancer. The knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants has been preserved from ancestors to ancestors, is still in existence and are also spreading towards their younger generations. Furthermore, More researches should be done to access the medicinal plants traded across the country and also their conservation strategy followed by the ethnic community during the collection of medicinal plants.

Distribution Pattern of Genus Taraxacum in the Nepalese Himalayas

The flowering plant diversity in Nepal is very rich with wide range of distribution due to overlap of different phytogeographical regions. In this study, we accounted the distribution pattern of genus Taraxacum belonging to the family Asteraceae. We included 14 species of Nepalese species which have wide range of altitudinal distribution i.e. from tropical region of Terai (720 m asl) to high Himalayas (4850 m asl) and east to west horizontal distribution with most of the species dominant in the central region of Nepal. Most of the species disappear or die during the dry winter season and their flowering starts by the starting of the Monsoon. These species within the genus have extended flowering period which is not strictly constrained by the monsoon. Taraxacum species richness increases along the elevation gradient from west to east across Nepal, in relation to the increased intensity of the monsoon.

Ultraviolet screening increases with elevation in translucent bracts of Rheum nobile (Polygonaceae), an alpine ‘glasshouse’ plant from the high Himalayas

Specialized bracts of Himalayan ‘glasshouse’ plants are well known for adapting to diverse stresses in alpine environments, thus ensuring normal sexual reproduction. However, little information is available on how such specialized plants cope with the elevational increase in stress. In this study, we determine the elevational pattern of ultraviolet (UV) protection provided by the translucent bracts of Rheum nobile, a giant ‘glasshouse’ plant species, endemic to the high Himalayas, and examine its effect on pollen germination and pollen tube growth. Both UV-A and UV-B radiation in the open air increased with elevation, but their intensity beneath bracts remained constant with elevation, suggesting that the bracts of R. nobile growing at higher elevations have an increased ability to screen UV radiation. Enhanced UV-B radiation, equivalent to that experienced at higher elevations (4800 m a.s.l.) compared to that at lower elevations (4200 m a.s.l.), significantly reduced pollen germination and pollen tube growth. Pollen grains from plants at higher elevations were not more tolerant to UV-B radiation. UV absorbance and the content of flavonoids in bracts increased with elevation, but a similar trend was not found in either UV reflectance or adaxial trichome density, suggesting that bract UV absorbance may play a more active role than bract UV reflectance in helping plants cope with the increasing UV radiation. Our results indicate that the bracts of R. nobile have the ability to cope with enhanced UV radiation with increasing elevation through increased UV absorbance, thus protecting pollen grains from injury caused by higher levels of UV radiation, and consequently ensuring normal sexual reproduction in stressful high-alpine conditions.

Demography of the giant monocarpic herb Rheum nobile in the Himalayas and the effect of disturbances by grazing

Background Perennity of giant rosette species in combination with a single “big bang“ reproduction followed by death of the genetic individual is relatively rare among plants. Such long-lived monocarpic plants are usually slow growing and can be found in deserts, bogs or in alpine regions of the tropics or subtropics. Due to their longevity monocarpic perennials risk to lose everything before reproduction, which make them particularly susceptible to disturbances. Because of the inherent difficulties to assess if long-lived populations are growing or declining, usually neither their demography nor the consequences of increasing grazing pressure are known. Methods We used integral projection modelling (IPM) to measure growth rate and passage time to flowering of Rheum nobile, a monocarpic perennial, and one of the most striking alpine plants from the high Himalayas. We estimated the impact of grazing cattle (yaks) by including in the models those rosettes, which were not found any more due to disturbances or grazing by yaks, either as missing or dead. Data was collected from plants at 4500 m a.s.l. in Shangri-la County, Yunnan Province, southwest China. In four consecutive years (2011-14) and in two populations, 372 and 369 individuals were measured, respectively, and size-dependent growth, survival and fecundity parameters were estimated. In addition, germination percentage, seedling survival, and establishment probability were assessed. Key results The probability of survival, of flowering and fecundity were strongly size-dependent. Time to reach flowering size was 33.5 years (95% CI from 21.9 to 43.3, stochastic estimate from pooled transitions and populations). The stochastic population growth rate (λs) of Rheum nobile was 1.013 (95% CI from 1.010 to 1.017). When disturbance by grazing cattle (yaks) was accounted for in the model, λs dropped to values below one (0.940, 95% CI from 0.938 to 0.943). Conclusion We conclude that natural populations of this unique species are viable, but that conservation efforts should be taken to minimise disturbances by grazing and to protect this slow-growing flagship plant from the high Himalayas.