Medicinal plants of Nepal — retrospects and prospects

Conclusion

The major portion of the local population which is economically depressed is scattered in different hill terrains, which are beyond the normal mode of approach. Sometimes it takes days to reach remote corners of the country, where the usual supply of allopathic medicine is out of the question. Due to increasing export demand, dependence of the local people on the herbal flora and their implicit faith in the old tradition of Ayurvedic medicine would go a long way in exploiting the wild plants for commercial return and in expanding research activities to gain productive results.

It is reported that in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., in the course of his survey, Jivaka, the Royal Physician during Buddha’s time, examined all the plants growing in the specified area around Taxila (Pakistan) and concluded that there was not a single plant which could be considered devoid of medicinal utilization (5). These observations are of special significance for the rich herbal flora of Nepal, which has tremendous need for critical scientific examination. It may be concluded that the inside knowledge of herbal therapy for the healing of humanity is the vital part these mysterious herbal plants have now to play, and it can be hoped that their contributions would be of great practical importance.