Rearing the rare plants

Photo: STAR

The garden in front of the pharmacy department at Dhaka University may appear as an ordinary garden. But it is more than what a visitor sees.
The sign hanging in the fence gives a hint. It reads: 'Medicinal Plant Garden'. What it does not say is that this piece of land is the lone herbal plant garden in the city.
The garden has an assortment of some rare and useful, yet very overlooked, medicinal plants in the country.
“This garden has a rich collection of most of the medicinal plants found in the country. But the world of botany is like a vast ocean and this is just a small part of that ocean,” said Fekulal Saha, an official from the Arboryculture Department of Dhaka University.
The garden was set up two years ago at the recommendation of the Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy. The scheme was implemented by the Auboryculture Department that is responsible for all the flora and fauna on the Dhaka University campus.
A plot lying unutilised in front of the Faculty of Pharmacy was used for this purpose. Currently there are more than 100 medicinal plants and several nutritional plants in the garden. The herbs, most of them fully grown, are used for research and studies.
The garden has several plant blocks where a variety of medicinal plants have been grown after collecting from different regions of the country. The Faculty of Pharmacy has made a comprehensive list of plant species with medicinal values.
Some of the species planted at the medicinal plant garden include Kumarilata (Smilax zeylanica), Surjamukhi (Helianthus annus), Castor Oil plant (Ricinus communis), Basak (Andhtada vasica), Swetachandan (Santalum album), Muktojhuri (Aclypta indica), Apang (chyranthes aspera), Labanga (Syzygium aromatioum), Sonapata (Cassia angusufolia), Holdey Korobi (Thevetia peruviana) and Olotkomol (Abroma augusta).
Each plant is labelled with a plaque where its regional name, scientific name and its uses are written. Basak, Apang and Labanga are some of the rare plants in the garden.
Basak is good for coughs, body odours and it is also used as an antiseptic. Apang is really good for heart and skin diseases while Labanga is used in perfumes and curing stomachache, teeth pains and headache.
Plants such as Shiuli (Nyctanthes arbortristis), Mohua (Madhuca indica) and Bel (Aegle marmelos), seen almost everywhere, have great herbal values that are unknown to many.
Both Shiuli and Mohua plants are good for increasing obesity, curing worms or any stomach related diseases while Bel and Suryamukhi plants are useful for coughs, stomach problems, bronchitis, malaria and fevers.
Prof. Dr Md. Abdur Rashid, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Dhaka University, said the main objective is to foster protection and conservation of the fast-disappearing species of medicinal value.
“The garden could be turned into a large reserve of vital medicinal plant species. The collection of such medicinal plant species is a continuous process,” he said.