Is it Rubia wallichiana

[taffa...@gmail.com]

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.

 

[J.M. Garg]

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]

Thanks Garg ji but is it validated as Rubia wallichiana ?

with regards

taffazul

[Saroj Kasaju]

Or maybe cordifolia ??

Thank you.

Saroj Kasaju

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/ab5dc318-755e-476d-b302-8af0900b05ddn%40googlegroups.com.

[taffa...@gmail.com]

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

[Saroj Kasaju]

Berry diameter is 3.5-4 mm in wallichiana and 4-6 mm in cordifolia, both black color !

Thank you.

Saroj Kasaju

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/fe741d7e-8ed2-46c1-bb65-49bb73bb7dbdn%40googlegroups.com.

[taffa...@gmail.com]

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]

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.		5 R. cordifolia

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/f67106b9-542f-47f8-a693-d4900f1683e1n%40googlegroups.com.

--

With regards,
J.M.Garg

[taffa...@gmail.com]

Garg ji

Thanks for validating

With regards

taffazull

[taffa...@gmail.com]

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.

[J.M. Garg]

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.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/1d2367e8-0553-4d47-9a8c-03f9e68dfb79n%40googlegroups.com.

[taffa...@gmail.com]

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]

Thanks, Taffazul ji

--
With regards,
J. M. Garg

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/c5eada5e-5168-4696-840d-bf80a5723a25n%40googlegroups.com.