Is it Rubia wallichiana

72 views
Skip to first unread message

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 19, 2022, 4:05:49 AM10/19/22
to eFloraofIndia

Kindly confirm if the plant is Rubia wallichiana .It was growing in a lawn in Srinagar .The stem is aciculate and square.The corolla of the flowers is white and most of the fruits are black and tiny 2-3 mm in dia though a very few were upto 5 mm in dia.

Walter R.Lawrence in  “The Valley of Kashmir”  (1895)  Chapter XIII   p 344 writes that till Samvat 1923 ( 1866 A.D.) madder was cultivated in Kashmir and its roots sold at 8 Annas per Seer (at present rates about Rs350/Kg.).Rubia wallichiana is even today in use by Monpa people of Tibet and Arunachal Paradesh

Yang R et al in their paper published in the Nature family Open Access Journal Science Reports write that:

“ Synthetic dyes not only pollute the environment and damage ecosystems but can also be harmful to human health..Thus, an “eco-efficiency” concept has come into existence to bring economic and environmental viability together.. As a biodegradable and recyclable resource, natural dyes are gradually beginning to receive more attention..( Yang, R., Zhang, Y., Ranjitkar, S. et al. Reusing wasteroot of Rubia wallichiana dyeing from Monpa of Tibet in China. Sci Rep 11, 14331 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93848-8 )

Cultivation of Rubia wallichiana can be promoted as a sunrise industry in Kashmir.

 

square stemresized2.JPG
flowerresized2.JPG
fruitresized2.JPG
plant1resized2.JPG
plantand fruitresized2.JPG

J.M. Garg

unread,
Oct 20, 2022, 12:23:09 PM10/20/22
to efloraofindia, TAFA
Thanks, Taffazul ji, for the details.
--
With regards,
J. M. Garg

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "eFloraofIndia" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to indiantreepi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/5a327517-6b8c-4367-a9a6-1c944a9278fan%40googlegroups.com.

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 20, 2022, 1:31:16 PM10/20/22
to eFloraofIndia
Thanks Garg ji but is it validated as Rubia wallichiana ?
with regards
taffazul

Saroj Kasaju

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 12:24:48 AM10/21/22
to indian...@googlegroups.com, taff...@yahoo.com, J.M. Garg
Or maybe cordifolia ??
Thank you.

Saroj Kasaju


taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 1:36:30 AM10/21/22
to eFloraofIndia
Thanks Saroj ji but I am puzzled by the size of the fruits as I know very little taxonomy.
Can cordifolia have such tiny fruits or is it some variety of cordifolia. There were two larger fruits of 5 mm dia in the entire  ensemble (Photo is attached) but the vast majority are tiny 2mm dia black fruits. Of course the stem is very aciculate with little spines clearly visible in the plant photo.
I would be grateful for a definitive view .
With regards
taffazull


bigfruit5mm.JPG

Saroj Kasaju

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 2:11:27 AM10/21/22
to indian...@googlegroups.com, J.M. Garg, taff...@yahoo.com
Berry diameter is 3.5-4 mm in wallichiana and 4-6 mm in cordifolia, both black color !
Thank you.

Saroj Kasaju


taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 5:45:19 AM10/21/22
to eFloraofIndia
Thanks for clarifying Saroj ji
As almost all the berries are about 3mm in diameter (See photo of plant with berries) so I would take it to be Rubia wallichiana.
Again thanks for enabling me to arrive at the correct ID.
With regards
Taffazull

J.M. Garg

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 6:47:49 AM10/21/22
to indian...@googlegroups.com, TAFA, Saroj Kasaju
Yes, id should be Ok, in view of keys from Flora of China:
45 (44)Stems smooth or sparsely aculeolate; flowers purplish red, greenish yellowish, or whitish; fruit 3.5-4 mm in diam., black at maturity. 37 R. wallichiana
+Stems rather markedly or sparsely aculeolate; flowers greenish, yellowish, or whitish; fruit 4-6(-7) mm in diam., orange at maturity. R. cordifolia



--
With regards,
J.M.Garg

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 21, 2022, 10:18:08 AM10/21/22
to eFloraofIndia
Garg ji
Thanks for validating
With regards
taffazull

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 1:28:14 AM10/23/22
to eFloraofIndia
Am posting another photo of  red roots and orange buds characteristic of this plant in autumn.  In spring the buds will elongate very rapidly and the climbing stems completely enfold any adjacent supporting structure like a fence or a rose bush. For this reason  gardeners consider it a troublesome weed. It is striking that though madder was cultivated in Kashmir till 1866 A.D. in places like Pampore- famous for its saffron- today its use is completely forgotten and as far as my enquiries go people here do not even have a Kashmiri  name for this plant.
Root and buds.JPG

J.M. Garg

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 2:50:53 AM10/23/22
to efloraofindia, TAFA
Thanks, Taffazull ji


--
With regards,
J. M. Garg

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "eFloraofIndia" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to indiantreepi...@googlegroups.com.

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Dec 5, 2022, 12:22:31 AM12/5/22
to eFloraofIndia
Would like to add this additional information which may be of interest to members:
A villager from a remote village of Kashmir informs me that its Kashmiri name is "Phoorish". He also told me that in olden
times it was used as an abortifacient. This is important as the roots of a closely related variety Rubia cordifolia var munjista 
are widely advertised and sold online as an Ayurvedic tonic  called Manjsitha. I think this should be avoided by women of child bearing age unless it is proven safe by further research

J.M. Garg

unread,
Dec 5, 2022, 7:51:25 PM12/5/22
to efloraofindia, TAFA
Thanks, Taffazul ji


--
With regards,
J. M. Garg

taffa...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 13, 2024, 6:17:44 AMSep 13
to eFloraofIndia
Two more photos:
1.Photo of plant completely covering and enclosing a yucca plant. Shows why gardeners consider it a troublesome weed
2.Close up
closeup.JPG
plant.JPG
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages