Exotic arboreal plants of Bhopal, their therapeutic potential and Conservation
Shaukat Saeed Khan
Department of Botany & Microbiology, Saifia College of Science, Bhopal-462001 (India) email : drsskhan2011@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
A survey of Bhopal was carried out to record the exotic plant species growing in various locaties. It was found that several species are growing luxuriantly away from their native places or centres of origin. These include a number of weeds such as Acanthospermum hispidum DC., Argemone mexicana L., Gomphrena celosioides Mart., Oxalis latifolia H.B.& K. and Parthenium hysterophorus L. etc. The arboreal species include Cananga odorata, Crescentia cujete, Melaleuca leucadendron, Grevillea robusta, Couroupita guianensis , Adansonia digitata and scores of others. The present paper deals with the medicinal utility of certain exotic arboreal species, which have enriched the flora of Bhopal from aesthetic point of view also, because many of them are elegant and produce flush of beautiful blossoms.Almost all the species dealt with in the paper have been found to have various therapeutic utilities and therefore can be exploited after conserving the existing specimens in situ and systematic propagation by vegetative means, seed germination and plant tissue culture technique using various explants.