A medicinal parasite plant found by Botanists and forest conservators in Bundi district village in Rajasthan. ‘Negad Booti’, a medicinal parasite plant as called in popular tongue have found at Rein village in Bundi for the first time in Rajasthan. Alectra parasitica chitrakutensis is the botanical name of the parasite, which is a variety placed under threatened category. It is used in the treatment of various types of ailments and diseases like leprosy, tuberculosis, paralysis, piles, intestinal worms, constipation, leucorrhoea, fever, spermatorrhoea and as a blood purifier.
The parasite which was once common in the vicinity of Chitrakut along the borders of Satna district of Madhya Pradesh and Banda in Uttar Pradesh, is on the verge of extinction due to excessive extraction by practitioners and clearance of land by cultivators. The herb which grows as a parasite on the roots of vitex negundo linn known as Negad in the local language, thus derived its name ‘Negad Booti’.
Assistant conservator of forests Satish Sharma and botanist Ramesh Chandra Bhutia had spotted the herb in March 2008 at Rein village in Bundi district, however, it took 5 years to reaffirm its identity as the endemic and threatened parasite. It is a drug plant, indigenous to India, and had been used in the treatment of leprosy, hydro phobia and physical weakness for centuries in traditional ayurvedic practice, remaining strictly confined to a limited area, Sharma said.
Only sadhus and mendicants used it, and it has not been known sufficiently to practitioners of indigenous medicine in other parts of the country. Even the existence of this plant in India had been recorded by botanists in 1961. In view of the encouraging results obtained, an on-the-spot study of its availability, collection, drying, etc, was made.
Preliminary clinical trials of the drug in the treatment of leprosy were carried out in Patna in 1962. Properties and uses of the drug as known to local people were also recorded. It is felt that this may prove to be a medicinal plant of economic importance. Rein becomes the second place in the country where this plant has been found.
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