International Journal of Plant Biology 2010; volume 1:e9 Saussurea species in Indian Introduction Correspondence: Jitendra S. Butola, G.B. Pant Himalayan Region: diversity, Institute of Himalayan Environment and distribution and indigenous It is well known that the Indian Himalayan Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora-263 643, uses Region (IHR) has a great range of plant diver- Uttarakhand, India. E-mail or butolajs@rediff- sity. The region alone supports about 18,440 mail.com or [email protected] 1 2 species of plants (Angiosperms: 8,000 spp., Jitendra S. Butola and Sher S. Samant Key words: Saussurea, diversity, distribution, Gymnosperm: 44 spp., Pteridophytes: 600 spp., 1G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan indigenous uses, habitat preference, nativity, Bryophytes: 1,736 spp., Lichens: 1,159 spp. and endemism, status, conservation. Environment and Development, Kosi- Fungi: 6,900 spp.).1 According to Samant et al.,2 Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, India; out of the total species of vascular plants, 1,748 2 Acknowledgments: the authors are thankful to Dr. G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan species are medicinal. Asteraceae is the fourth U. Dhar, Director, G.B. Pant Institute of Environment and Development, Mohal- largest family of vascular plants, comprising Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi- Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India over 30,000 species (1,100 genera), and is dis- Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, India for provid- tributed almost worldwide. In India, the family ing necessary facilities and consistent support. is estimated to have about 900 species under JS Butola wishes to thank Dr. Ashok Singh for 167 genera.3,4 Plants of the family are perenni- helping in the literature survey. al and most species are herbaceous in nature, Abstract Received for publication: 27 January 2010 with trees and shrubs representing only about Revision received: 17 February 2010. In spite of the high economic value of the 2% of the total. Accepted for publication: 3 March 2010. Saussurea species in the Indian Himalayan Saussurea is named after Horace Benedict Region (IHR), the potential of most of the de Saussure (1740-1799), a Swiss philosopher. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (by-nc 3.0). species is yet to be investigated. Therefore, an It is an important genus of the family compris- attempt has been made to study the diversity, ing an estimated 410 species, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of Asia, Europe, ©Copyright J.S. Butola and S.S. Samant, 2010 distribution, habitat preference, nativity, onlyLicensee PAGEPress, Italy endemism, status and indigenous uses of and North America, with the highest diversity International Journal of Plant Biology 2010; 1:e9 Saussurea species in the IHR. A total of 62 in alpine habitats in the Himalayas and doi:10.4081/pb.2010.e9 species were recorded from the IHR; of these, 37 Central Asia. Of the estimated species, 61 are 3,5,6 species were native to the Himalayan region, 8 found in India. The genus is quite varied were endemic and 21 were near endemic to the and is well known to have medicinal,use religious Saussurea in the IHR. In view of the economic IHR. Twenty-seven of the 28 species that were and other economic values, i.e. food, flavoring importance of the genus for the inhabitants of known to have indigenous uses also had medic- material, rubber, oil, insecticides, dye, orna- the region, this study was undertaken to: i) inal value and are used for the treatment of var- mental value, etc. examine the diversity, distribution pattern and ious diseases/ailments. Many species, e.g., S. Plants of the Saussurea genus range in indigenous uses of the species of Saussurea in affinis (Ganga Mula*), S. auriculata (Pachak height from the 5-10 cm tall dwarf alpine the IHR; ii) assess and analyze species for Kut), S. bracteata (Prerak Mul), S. costus species to tall, thistle-like plants up to 3 m tall. their habitat preference, nativity, endemism (Kuth), S. gossypiphora (Kasturi Kamal) and S. The leaves are produced in a dense basal and status; and iii) suggest appropriate strate- obvallata (Brahm Kamal), have multiple uses. rosette, and spiral up the flowering stem. The gies for the conservation management of the The genus showed high habitat specificity in flowers form in a dense head of small capitula, species. that 16 species were recorded to be restricted to often completely surrounded in dense white to one or two habitats only. As many as 44 species purple woolly hairs; the individual florets are were identified as rare in the study region. also white to purple. The woolly hairs in high Considering the high industrial demand for raw altitude species of the family are the densest, Materials and Methods materials and the endangered status of S. cos- and aid in thermoregulation of the flowers, minimizing frost damage at night, and also tus, S. gossypiphora, S. obvallata and S. simpso- Survey, sampling and identification niana (Fen Kamal), these species should be pri- preventing ultraviolet light damage from the Non-commercial7 oritized for conservation (in situ and ex situ) intense high altitude sunlight. of the species throughout the IHR. Population assessment of S. costus (Kuth, Figure 1A), native to the While exploring the floristic diversity of the the rare-endangered, native, endemic and eco- Himalayan Region,2 is one of the most com- West Himalayas between 1993 and 2003 and nomically important species using standard mercially viable species of this genus and is in the North-West Himalayas between 2004 and ecological methods has been suggested for the high demand for treating many diseases like 2006, we recorded observations on distribu- quantification of the existing stock of these bronchial asthma, rheumatism, cholera, jaun- tion, altitudinal range, habit and habitat of the species in their natural habitats. Further, phyto- dice, leprosy, etc.8 Besides this species, S. Saussurea species. Knowledge of indigenous chemical investigations for the identification of gossypiphora (Kasturi Kamal, Figure 1B) and uses was gathered through interviews with active ingredients are suggested. Propagation S. obvallata (Brahm Kamal, Figure 1C) are local inhabitants. This was augmented by an and cultivation techniques are lacking for most very popular for medicinal and religious pur- extensive survey of literature on the species of of the species of Saussurea except for S. costus, poses in the IHR. A review of literature reveals Saussurea occurring in the IHR.2,6-25 S. obvallata and S. medusa (Snow Lotus). that the information available for a few species Furthermore, the native communities need to of Saussurea in the region is fragmentary. Determination of nativity, To our knowledge, there is hardly any docu- be sensitized to the sustainable use and conser- endemism and IUCN status of the vation value of the species in this genus. mentation available which contains compre- hensive information on the diversity, distribu- species *Local names given in parentheses throughout are in the Pahari tion, habitat preference, nativity, endemism, Nativity of the species has been identified2,26 language, spoken by native communities in the Himalayan region. status and indigenous uses of the species of and determination of endemism was based on [International Journal of Plant Biology 2010; 1:e9] [page 43] Article the distribution range of the species.2,27 The species restricted to the IHR have been consid- ered as endemic whereas those with extended distribution to neighboring countries/states have been considered as near endemic. IUCN status of the species was determined based on occurrence of the species in natural habitats. Review of propagation and cultiva- tion An extensive survey of literature was carried out to determine the current status of propaga- tion and cultivation of Saussurea species in the IHR. For the review of literature, traditional libraries at a variety of different institutions, as well as various websites, were utilized.8,28-42 Results and Discussion Diversity, distribution and habitat preference only In the present study, 62 species of Saussurea were recorded from the IHR. All the species were herbaceous in nature and distributed between 550 m and 5,700 m. The greatest species diversity (33 spp.) was recorded in the use zone between 3,500 m and 5,000 m (Figure 2). This high species diversity may be due to var- ied soil, climate and geography of the zone, Figure 1. (A) Saussurea costus (photo: Dr. J.S. Butola); (B) Saussurea gossypiphora (photo: Dr. R.S. Chauhan); (C) Saussurea obvallata (photo: Dr. S.S. Samant) and (D) which gives rise to many micro and macro Saussurea heteromalla (photo: Dr. Manohar Lal). habitats.22 The Northeast region of the Himalayas, par- ticularly Sikkim, contains the greatest number of species of Saussurea (32 spp.), which is Figure 2. Distribution among the dominant plant genera in the state.43 of Saussurea species at different altitudinal In the present study, Saussurea was found with- ranges in 15 habitats: shady/moist, alpine meadows/slopes, shrubberies, open grassy slope, shady rock/boulders, roadside/waste places, cultivated area/agricultural lands, dry places, rocky slopes, snowline/glacier slopes, forest, riverine, alpine screes, flooded Non-commercialareas and Number of species saline alkali lands (Table 1). Maximum species diversity was in alpine meadows/slopes (55 spp.), followed by shady/moist places (32 spp.), alpine screes (24 spp.) and forest (23 spp.) Altitudinal range habitats. Sixteen species were restricted to one or two habitats only. leana, S. conica, S. gilesii, S. graminifolia, S. the Himalaya, Saussurea is the second largest Native and endemic species heteromalla (Kaliziri, Figure 1D), S. jacea, S. genus with a preponderance of endemic Of the total Saussurea species identified, 37 nimborum, S. nishiokae, S. piptathera, S. poly- species (35 spp.),44 suggesting that there is species were determined to be native to the stichoides, S.