Author(s): D.A. Patil

Affiliation: Post-Graduate Department of Botany, S. S. V. P. Sanstha's L. K. Dr. P. R. Ghogrey Science College, Dhule-424005, Maharashtra, India

Abstract: Garcia da Orta’s ‘Coloquios dos Simples e Drogas e Cousas Medicinais da India’ is acclaimed to be the first scientific work on medicinal plants of India. It was compiled in Goa, a land rich in trade and crossroads of people, religions and cultures. It has historical bearings on various facts of human life and has many dimensions to understanding knowledge systems. It has yet remained unstudied from the point of plant invasion in erstwhile India. The present author exhumed and shed light on total 27 exotic plant species belonging to 25 genera and 24 families. These taxa have been introduced in India from various parts of the world. However, American and Asian (Excluding India) exotic floral elements predominate relatively. The paper discusses impact of this historical vis-a-vis botanical annal in various compartments of human life in India and outside. The role played by its author in dissemination of Indian medicolore then unknown to outside is also explained.

Pages: 55-59 | Views: 1382 | Downloads: 892

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