Flowers in the Himalayas are widely known for their distinct and medicinal properties.
The Himalayan region, with its diverse climatic conditions, is home to many endemic, endangered and beautiful flora. The number of plant species is more than 25,000and these serene valleys possess 10% of the world’s known species and 50% of India’s endemic plant species.
Let’s talk about a few of these flowers in detail:
Gaping Monkshood:
Gaping Monkshood or Aconitum Chasmanthum, is one of the beautiful flowers in the Himalayas. It belongs to the family Ranunculaceae. It is a perennial herb with a leafy stem. These flowers have a gaping mouth, compared to other Monk’s hood flowers. Sepals are blue or white with veins, rarely pale purple, not contiguous to the helmet.
Gaping Monkshood is generally found in meadows of Himalayas, from Pakistan to Nepal, from 2300 to 4300m. It also has a great medicinal use. People mix dry roots with butter and give them as an ointment on the abscess, they also mix boils with tobacco and give them as “Naswar”.
Greenish Himalayan Monkshood:
Greenish Himalayan Monkshood or Aconitum heterophyllum belongs to the buttercup family. It is a perennial herb and has large greenish-purple, prominently darker veined flowers. Also known as Indian Atees, the lowest leaves of this flower are deeply lobed and long-stalked. We can find these flowers in the Himalayas, from Pakistan to C. Nepal from 2400-4000m. The flowering takes place from August to September.
The dried roots of these flowers have very influential medicinal properties according to Ayurveda.
Himalayan Monkshood:
This beautiful perennial flower has large deep or bright blue flowers. Greenish Himalayan Monkshood is its cousin flower which slightly differs from this flower since it has greenish-violet flowers. The leaves are ovate heart-shaped and are 4- 8 cm from the stem.
Just like Greenish Himalayan Monkshood, we can find these flowers in the Himalayas, from Pakistan to C. Nepal, from altitude 2400-4000m. They are famous for Ayurvedic medicinal purposes. The seeds crushed in honey are applied on the throat for tonsillitis. Nasal insufflation of roots is beneficial for a headache.
Himalayan Baneberry:
Himalayan Baneberry or Actaea acuminate, has a cylindrical cluster of numerous white flowers at the top. Flower clusters are 3-5 cm long. Leaves are about 40 cm. The flowers have clusters of stalked berries. We can find Himalayan Baneberry in the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to SE Tibet, at altitudes 2400-3600m. Flowering generally takes place from May to August.
This plant is widely used to treat cold, cough and rheumatic pains.
Yellow Himalayan Oxeye Daisy:
Yellow Himalayan Oxeye Daisy or Adonis Margaritae, is a perennial herb with long vertical rootstock.
The flowers are bright yellow in color and have a single velvet hairy-stalk. Yellow Himalayan Oxeye Daisy grows in large clumps in airline meadows in the Himalayas from Kashmir to West Nepal and West Tibet., at altitudes 3000-4300m. The flowering takes place from July to August.
It is used in Homeopathy to treat Asthma, Whooping Cough.
Blue Himalayan Anemone:
Blue Himalayan Anemone or Anemone Obtusiloba has variable buttercup flowers in colors white, blue and yellow. Flowers have 5-7 elliptical petals which are silky haired. Flowers have soft hairy basal leaves.
One can find Blue Himalayan Anemone in forests, shrubberies, open slopes and grazing grounds, at altitudes 2100-4300m. The flowering takes place from May to July.
It is medicinally useful to treat fever, arthritis, and anxiety.
Read also: Chanshal Pass: A Journey towards the End