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Mulberry (Morus nigra , Family : Moraceae)  also known as toot, shehtoot is a multipurpose tree.  It is found all over India from temperate to tropical regions.  Fig and Jackfruit are other important fruit trees of this family Moraceae. Morus alba is white mulberry mainly used in Sericulture whereas Morus nigra produces black fruits which have tremendous nutritional and medicinal value and are produced for fruit cultivation.  Mulberry is a fast growing, deciduous, woody perennial plant, which is mainly grown in the orchards as windbreak due to its dense foliage. It can be grown on wide range of climate and soil conditions (Hare Krishna et al., 2012). It is not commercially cultivated as fruit crop and trees are planted mainly on road sides, wind breaks and in the orchard for getting shade. In most parts of the country particularly southern states, mulberry is grown for its foliage, which is the only food for the silkworm (Bombyx mori). Mulberry leaf is a major economic component in sericulture since the quality and quantity of leaf produced per unit area has a direct bearing on cocoon harvest.

Family: Rutaceae

Flowering: February-April

Fruiting: May-September

Botanical description: The plant is a small tree, growing up to 4-6 m tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter. The leaves are opposite or alternate, lanceolate or ovate, strongly scented with 11-21 leaflets. The flowers are small white, and fragrant. The berries are small, ovoid or ellipsoid, black in colour, shiny and edible, but their seeds are poisonous.

Family : Musaceae

Flowering & Fruiting: Most parts of the year

Botanical description: Banana is a tropical small size tree, with large leaves which overlapping bases from the trunk. The leaves are oblong and 1.2-1.5 m in length. The stem reaches a height of about 10-30 feet. Flower develops from the centre of the crown. Only female flowers develop into a banana fruit that varies in length from 4 to12 inches. Each banana plant bears fruits only once. The plant bears flowers and fruits in most parts of the year.

Common name    :    English - Banana
        Hindi - Kela
        Odia - Kadali

Family    :    Musaceae

Habit & Distribution
The plant is a large herb (Fig. 65 a), indigenous to Odisha, Bihar and Eastern Himalayas. The plant is cultivated throughout India.

General Characters
Banana is a tropical small size tree, with large leaves with overlapping bases from the trunk. The leaves are oblong and 1.2-1.5 m in length. The stem reaches a height of about 10-30 feet. Flower develop from the centre of crown. Only female flowers develop into a banana fruit that vary in length from 4 to12 inches. Each banana plant bears fruits only once. The plant bears flowers and fruits in most parts of the year.

In 1882, Robert Koch first isolated the bacterium, stained with alkaline methylene blue and vesuvin as counter stain and showed its etiologic relationship with tuberculosis. Ehrlich first developed acid-fast stain in 1882 and used for better staining of the bacteria which was adopted by Robert Koch. The acid-fast staining technique was modified later by Franz Ziehl and Friedrich Neelsen, accordingly, it is known as Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining. In 1890, Koch prepared a glycerine broth extract of the tubercle bacillus, known as ‘tuberculin’. He tried to prepare it as a curative agent; but it was used later in diagnosis. In 1895, Johne and Frothingham described the first case of paratuberculosis in cattle which became known as ‘Johne’s disease’. The causative bacterium was later isolated by Twort and Ingram in 1910.

In India, bovine tuberculosis is reported from several states since 1959 (Dhanda and Lall, 1959). The bovine paratuberculosis in India was first reported by Nanda and Singh (1940) from Haryana.

The word ‘Mycoplasma’ is originated from the Greek word mykes (fungus) and plasma (formed). It was first used by Albert Bernhard Frank (1889), a German biologist. He thought it was a fungus. An older name for Mycoplasma was pleuropneumonia-like organisms (PPLO), referring to organisms similar to the causative agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP).It was later found that the fungus-like growth pattern of Mycoplasma mycoides is unique to the species. It was first isolated in 1898 by Edmond Nocard and E. Roux from bovine lungs. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was considered as a virus previously. Eaton and his co-workers cultured the causative agent of human primary atypical pneumonia (PAP) or ‘walking pneumonia’. It was known as ‘Eaton’s agent’. In the early 1960s, Leonard Hayflick, in Philadelphia, was first to isolate and cultivate the causative agent of primary atypical pneumonia and identified the agent as a Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Properties of genus

1 Morphology: Mycoplasma have no cell wall and therefore are resistant to the antibiotics used to inhibit the cell wall synthesis like penicillin, cephalosporin and vancomycin. The bacteria are the smallest prokaryote (0.3-0.8µm). They are pleomorphic due to absence of the rigid cell wall. The different shapes include ring, globules, filaments and elementary bodies. Due to their plasticity in shape and size, they can be passed through the membrane filter with pore size of 0.45µm. The cell membrane is constituted of trilaminar structure enriched with phosphoprotein, lipoprotein, glycolipid, phospholipid and sterol. So Mycoplasma require sterol for their growth.

1. Botanical Name : Myrica esculenta Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

2. Family : Myricaceae

3. Common Name : Box myrtle

4. Name in Indian languages: Kainaryamy (Telugu), Nagatenga (Assami), Satsarila (Bengali), Kariphal (Gujarati), Kaiphal (Hindi), Kirishivani (Kannada), Maruta (Malayalam), Soh-phi (Khasi), Kaphal (Kumaoni), Kayaphala (Marathi), Krishnagarbha (Sanskrit), Masudam (Tamil).

5. Description

Myrica esculenta is grow extensively in hilly regions of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh , Nepal and Bhutan at elevations of 1000-2300 m. It is small to medium size evergreen tree. The stem bark is grayish dark in colour and rough. The fruits of this species are edible and used by the local population. The stem bark and wood is very good for fuel wood purpose.

Family: Nelumbonaceae

Flowering & Fruiting: July-December

Botanical description: It is a perennial aquatic plant, growing from a tuberous rootstock lying in mud at the bottom of water bodies, lakes and ponds. The plant produces large leaves which float on the surface of the water. Leaves are large, simple, glabrous, solitary, beset with scattered hard minute papillae and rounded in shape and covered with a network of microscopic hairs. Flowers are large, pink or white in colour with expanding and emerging above water. Fruit is 1-2 cm across with flat-topped seed pod divided into compartments. Seeds globose, 1 mm across and brown in colour

Common name    :    English- Bur flower
        Hindi- Kadamb
        Odia- Kadamba

Family    :    Rubiaceae
 
Habit & Distribution
It is a tree (Fig. 66 a), seen growing widely in deep moist, alluvial sites and often in forests along river banks. It is widely distributed throughout India.

General Characters
The plant is a large straight deciduous tree that reaches to 45 m height. The leaves are large simple, elliptic-oblong, entire and 13-32 cm in length. Flowers are orange colored, small, in dense, globose heads that appear like solid, hairy orange balls. The fruits are small capsules, packed closely together. It bears flowers on May-July and fruits during August-October.

Common name    :    English- Shoo-fly plant
        Hindi- Popti

Family    :    Solanaceae
 
Habit & Distribution
The plant is a herb (Fig. 67 a), commonly found in fallow land, naturalized in waste places and near dwellings. It is distributed throughout India.

General Characters
It s an erect annual plant reaches up to 3-8 feet in height and are about half as wide. The leaves are large, alternate, reaching up to 1 feet long and somewhat resembles Datura leaves. Flowers are pale blue or blue purple with white centre. Fruits are berry, brown or yellow when matures, up to 2 cm in diameter. The plant flowers and bears fruits during October-February.

Edmond Nocard (French veterinarian) first isolated filamentous aerobic bacteria from clinical cases of ‘bovine farcy’ in 1888. In 1889, the genus Nocardia was formed by Trevisan and the bacterium originally described by Nocard was named as Nocardia farcinica. In 1891, another similar bacterium (Nocardia asteroides) was isolated by Eppinger from a human brain abscess. Initially it was thought that they are the same bacteria. On the basis of the genetic differences the separate entity was established later.

The re-examination of Nocard’s original isolate revealed the existence of two different filamentous bacteria i.e. Mycobacterium and Nocardia. The cause of ‘bovine farcy’ has been subsequently attributed to Mycobacterium. Later, it is proved that Mycobacterium farcinogenes is the actual causative agent of ‘bovine farcy’.

Family : Nymphaeaceae

Flowering: Throughout year

Fruiting: Throughout year

Botanical description: It is an aquatic perennial herb, having erect perennial root stocks that anchor it to the mud in the bottom of the water bodies. Leaves vary from being elliptic-oval to almost circular 15-26 cm across, fine hairs on upper side and always remain at floating stage. Flowers are mostly white, occasionally pink or red reaching up to 15 cm in diameter.

Common name    :    English- Water lily
        Hindi- Kanval
        Odia- Kain

Family    :    Nymphaeaceae
 
Habit & Distribution 
The plant (Fig. 68 a) is an aquatic perennial herb, commonly found in lakes and ponds. It is distributed throughout the warmer parts of India.

General Characters
It is an aquatic plant having erect perennial root stocks that anchor it to the mud in the bottom of the water bodies. Leaves vary from being elliptic-oval to almost circular 15-26 cm across, fine hairs on upper side and always remain at floating stage. Flowers are mostly white, occasionally pink or red reaching up to 15 cm in diameter. The plant flowers and bears fruits throughout the year.

Family: Bignoniaceae

Flowering: July-August

Fruiting: December-March

Botanical description: The plant is a medium sized deciduous tree, growing up to 8-12 m tall. The bark is grayish brown with corky lenticels. The leaves are huge, 0.5-1.5 m long, 2-3 pinnate with leaflets of 12 cm long and 8 cm broad. The flowers are reddish- purple outside and pale, -yellowish within, numerous, in large erect racemes. The fruits are flat capsules, 0.33-1 meter long and 5-10 cm broad, sword-shaped. The seeds numerous, flat and winged all around, except at the base.

Common name    :    English-Rice
        Hindi-Chawal
        Odia-Dhana
    
Family    :    Poaceae

Habit & Distribution 
The plant (Fig. 70 a) is a annual herb, and several varieties of this plant are largely cultivated all over the world, especially in Asian countries.

General Characters
It is a semi aquatic monocot plant. The plant grows up to 3-5 ft in height. It has long, slender leaves, 50-100 cm long and 2-2.5 cm broad. Flowers are produced in branches arching to pendulous inflorescence 30-50 long. The edible seed is a grain, 0.5-1.2 cm long and 2-3 mm thick. The plant flowers and bear fruits during September-January and also in April-May.

Family: Oxalidaceae

Flowering: June-August

Fruiting: September-October

Botanical description: The plant is a creeping herb, branching from the base and often rooted at the nodes, the upper portion is ascending or weakly erect, smooth or hairy. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems. A single long stalk arises from the axils of the leaf, from which extend three flower stalks, each with a single flower. The flowers are 7-11 mm wide and have 5 yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule, 1-1.5 cm long, cylindric, pointed apically, and 5-ridged in cross section.

Family: Rubiaceae

Flowering: August-September

Fruiting: September-October

Botanical description: The plant is a perennial twining climber, arising from a woody rootstock. Its stems grow up to 7 m or more, climbing, or prostrate and rooting at the nodes. Leaves are oval to linear-lanceolate, oppositely arranged, 2-11 cm long, hairy or smooth, often lobed at base with prominent stipules. Leaf stalks are mostly up to 6 cm long. Leaves and stems have a atinking smell, especially when crushed. Flowers are small, purple, broad or long, curving clusters at the end of branches or in leaf axils. Fruit is a shiny brown, nearly round capsule, up to 0.7 cm across, with 2 black, rounded seeds.

Common name    :    English- Kewda/Screw pine
        Hindi- Gagan dhul
        Odia- Kia

Family    :    Pandanaceae
 
Habit & Distribution 
It is a shrub (Fig. 71 a), wild in deltaic swamps of Mahanadi and other sandy coastal areas. Seen both in wild and cultivated in India.

General Characters
It is a bushy shrub, reaches up to 3-4 m in height. The leaves are closely spiral, spiny and leathery with fragrance. Flowers are pedicellate with stamens spirally arranged on the floral axis. Flowers have a sweet and perfumed odor.

Louis Pasteur (1881) first isolated the bacterium from fowl cholera outbreak and attenuated the bacteria to develop a vaccine for the chicken. Trevisan (1887) coined the generic name ‘Pasteurella’ in honour of Louis Pasteur. Lignieres (1900) proposed the name of the species according to the animals acted as the major hosts such as Pasteurella aviseptica for fowls, P. suiseptica for pigs, P. boviseptica for bovines, P. oviseptica for ovines and P. leptiseptica for rabbits. Rosenbuch and Merchant (1939) proposed the name of single species Pasteurella multocida which is in use till date.

Mannheimia is an exclusive animal pathogen and is associated with ‘shipping fever’ or bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in cattle. Kitt (1885) first described the bacterium as Bacterium bipolare multocidum isolated from shipping fever in cattle. The nomenclature was further changed into Bacillus boviseptica and finally into Pasteurella haemolytica. Based on fermentation capability of arabinose and trehalose, P. haemolytica was subdivided into two biotypes (A and T) and several capsular serotypes. The biotype A (with 12 capsular serotypes) was classified under a new genus Mannheimia due to disparities in 16S rDNA sequence, cultural and pathological characteristics.

Common name    :    English-Yellow flamebouyant
        Hindi- Peela gulmohar 
        Odia- Radhachuda

Family    :    Fabaceae

Habit & Distribution
It is a tree (Fig. 72 a), frequently planted in gardens, road sides etc. and widely distributed throughout India.

General Characters
The plant is a deciduous tree growing up to 15-25 m height with a trunk diameter of about 1m. The leaves are bipinnate, 30-60 cm long, with 16-20 pinnae, each pinna with 20-40 oval leaflets. The flowers are yellow, 2.5-4 cm diameter, produced in large compound racemes up to 5-10 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, red at first, ripening black and contain 1-4 seeds. The plant flowers during March-May and bears fruits during April-December.

Family : Arecaceae

Flowering: February-March

Fruiting: April-May

Botanical Description: The plant is a moderate sized dioecious tree which grows up to 4-10 m. in height and 30 cm diameter with a large crown and rough trunk covered with persistent leaf bases. The leaves are 3 m. long, gently recurved on 1 m petioles with spines near the base. The leaf crown grows to 5 m wide and 7-10 m tall containing up to 100 leaves. The inflorescence grows upto 1 m with white flowers. The single seeded fruit ripens to orange-yellow.

Common name    :    English- Date palm 
        Hindi- Khajur
        Odia- Khajuri

Family    :    Arecaceae
 
Habit & Distribution 
The plant is a tree (Fig. 73 a). It is commonly, wild or cultivated throughout India. It thrives from the plains to the coast in low-laying waste lands, scrub forest and water logged areas.

General Characters
It is a moderate sized dioecious tree which grows up to 4-10 m. in height and 30 cm diameter with a large crown and rough trunk covered with persistent leaf bases. The leaves are 3 m. long, gently recurved on 1 m petioles with spines near the base. The leaf crown grows to 5 m wide and 7-10 m tall containing up to 100 leaves. The inflorescence grows to 1 m with white flowers. The single seeded fruit ripens to orange-yellow. The plant flowers and bears fruits during May-October.

1. Botanical Name : Phoenix sylvestris Roxb.

2. Family : Palmae

3. Common Name : Wild Date Palm, Indian wild date, Sugar date palm

4. Name in Indian languages

Khajur (Hindi), Thangtup (Manipuri), Kharik, Kharjuri (Marathi), Inthupaanai (Tamil),: Niilanthent (Malayalam), Ita (Telugu), Ichalu, Kharjura (Kannada), Khejura (Bengali), Khorjurri (Oriya), Khaajuri (Assamese), Khajuri (Gujarati), Kharjuri (Sanskrit), Kandela, Taadii (Nepali).

5. Description

Wild date palm is native to India and southern portions of Pakistan. It is closely related Phoenix dactylifera (Date palm). It grows naturally and is cultivated around homesteads, farmland periphery and in marginal lands along the roadside and canals, even on fallow land. It can survive in disturbed areas, such as wastelands or seasonally inundated areas. It is a medium height tree of 9–10 m. The single-seeded fruit ripens to a purple-red colour, and is eaten fresh or processed. The leaf sap also used in various preparations. Fruits are rich source of carbohydrate, phenols, amino acids, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, dietary fibers, vitamins and minerals. Different parts of the plant have diverse medicinal properties such as antipyretic, cardiotonic, laxative, diuretic and antioxidant.

Family: Verbenaceae

Flowering: August-September

Fruiting: September-October

Botanical description: The plant is a prostrate, flowering and broadleaf herb. The leaves are opposite, obovate, serrate above middle, obtuse or rounded and thick. The flowers are small, in axillary peduncled and consists of a purple-coloured centre encircled by small white-to-pink flowers. Fruits are 2 mm long, enclosing two with 1-celled pyrenes.

Family : Phyllanthaceae

Flowering: May-June

Fruiting: June-September

Botanical Description: The plant is a small deciduous tree reaching about 25-30 ft in height. Leaves are compound, 14-25 inches long, crowded at the ends of the branches leaflets 2-3.5 inches long, alternately arranged along the rachis, ovate or obliquely ovate, acute with rounded or wedge-shaped base. Flowers are very minute, in short dense spike-like clusters arising from nodules along the branches. Fruit is pendulous, in small clusters from the branches, round or slightly flattened at the poles, with shallow or deep ribs (usually 5) 0.75 inch across.

1. Botanical Name : Phyllanthus acidus (L) skeels.

2. Family : Phyllanthaceae

3. Common Name : Star Gooseberry

4. Name in Indian languages : Jangli Aonla (Hindi), Aria Nellikai (Tamil), Narakli (Oriya), Nora (Bengali), Kiru nelli(Kannada).

5. Description

Star gooseberry is a small tree of 4 to 8m height. The tree’s dense and bushy crown is composed of thickish, tough main branches. It tree grows well in the tropics up to an altitude of 1500 - 1800 metres. It prefers hot, humid tropical conditions with a short dry season. The fruits are yellow and used as fresh or processed. The plants grow well in dry areas but require moist site for initial establishment otherwise, plants are drought tolerant.

Family : Phyllanthaceae

Flowering: March-May

Fruiting: November-February

Botanical Description: The plant is a small to medium sized deciduous tree, reaching 8 to 18 m in height. It is known for its edible fruits of the same name. The tree has crooked trunk and spreading branches. The leaves are simple, nearly stalkless and closely set along slender branchlets. The leaves are often mistaken for leaflets of pinnate leaves. The flowers are small, greenish-yellow or pinkish, having six segments, but no real petals. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite smooth and hard on appearance, with 6 vertical stripes or furrows.

Family: Fabaceae

Flowering: October-November

Fruiting: November-December

Botanical description: The plant is an annual, erect branched, glabrous herb growing upto 30-90 cm in height. Leaves are compound, leafelets are lanceolate, often doubly serrate, acuminate and sparsely puberulous both side with acute to rounded base. The flowers are 9-16 in number and arranged in umbellule, 1.5 mm across, with a pedicels 5 mm long. Fruit is ovate, slightly compressed laterally, glabrous with prominent ribs.

Family: Fabaceae

Flowering: November-December

Fruiting: January-February

Botanical description: The plant is smooth, glaucous, annual herbaceous plant with foloaceous ovate stipules, irregularly toothed at the base. The leaflets are 2-3 pairs, opposite leaf-rachis ending in a branched tendril. The colour of the flower is white, peduncle is 1 and few flowered. Pods are broad with rounded, green or yellowish seeds.

Family : Mimosaceae

Flowering: January-March

Fruiting: April-June

Botanical Description: The plant is a large, nearly evergreen perennial tree that grows up to 20 m or more in height. It has a broad crown, up to 30 m across, and a short trunk, up to 1 m thick. Leaves are deciduous but foliage is persistent, as the new leaves appear while the old ones are being shed, so that the tree looks like an evergreen. Flowers yellowish-white in colour and are borne in small spherical glomerules of about 1 cm in diameter, forming short axillary panicles of 5-30 cm in length. Pods are greenish-brown to red or pinkish, rather thin with 10-15 cm long with irregular shape and flattened. There are about 10 seeds per pod, shining black in a white pulpy aril.

Family: Lamiaceae

Flowering: September-October

Fruiting: November-December

General Characters: The plant is a small, erect, fleshy, annual herb, growing up to 30-50 cm high. The leaves are oppositely arranged, broadly ovate, 5-12 cm long, pointed, heart- shaped at base, with a toothed margin. Flowers are pale blue in colour, borne in branched racemes, 7-20 cm long, at the end of branches. Fruits are round, 2-3 mm, gery brown, with sparse small dark warts.

Common name    :    English- Wild leadwort
        Hindi- Chitrak 
        Odia- Ogni 

Family    :    Plumbaginaceae 

Habit & Distribution
The plant is a shrub (Fig. 74 a), frequent in open places, scrub forests and among bushes. It is widely distributed throughout India.

Gerneral Characters
The plant is an evergreen shrub that reaches about 6 feet in native. The leaves are dark green, spreading and ovate in shape. Flowers are white, terminal, often panicled and grow as dense racemes. Individual flowers are up to ½ inch across. The plant flowers and bears fruits during September-April.

Common name    :    English- False Asoka 
        Hindi- Ashok 
        Odia- Debadaru

Family    :    Annonaceae
 
Habit & Distribution 
The plant (Fig. 75 a) is usually planted in gardens, roadside avenues and also cultivated throughout India.

General characters
The plant is a tall evergreen tree having slender and glabrous branches, growing up to a height of 25 feet. The leaves are narrowly lanceolate, glossy green, long with attractive wavy edges. Flowers are yellowish-green, star like structures that give the tree a peculiar hazy appearance. Seeds are smooth and shining. The plant flowers in March-April and bears fruits during July-August.

Family: Polygonaceae

Flowering: February-April

Fruiting: April-June

Botanical description: The plant is a prostrate and densely branched, annual herb. Stems are branched from base, branches numerous. The leaves are linear, oblong 2.5-18 mm long, acute or obtuse and often with revolute margins. Flowers are small, pink with green midrib, subsessile and sunk among the stipules or exsert. The nuts are 1.0-1.75 mm long, circular to ovate, shining, and black.

Family: Portulacaceae

Flowering: February-April

Fruiting: April-June

Botanical description: The plant is prostrate or erect herb growing upto1030 cm in height. Leaves are alternate or subopposite, margins entire, obtuse or truncate apex, clustered at stem joints and ends. The flowers are yellow in colour, sessile to 1 cm across, open singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. The seeds are brown in colour, 0.8 mm with minutely tubercled.

1. Botanical Name : Prunus armeniaca Linn.

2. Family : Roasaceae

3. Common Name : Wild apricot

4. Name in Indian languages

Zardalu, Sarha, Chulli (Himachali), Chuari, Zardalu (Hindi), Gurdalu, Cherkush (Kashmiri), Chuaru, Chola, Kushmaru (Kumaoni); Chul (Laddakhi), Zardalu (Punjabi).

5. Description

Wild apricot is a common fruit of the hills in northern India, comprising the major parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The fruits are small but tasty.

6. Origin and distribution

This tree is indigenous to the Central Asia. It is widely distributed and is found in Europe, Western and Central Asia, Baluchistan, the north-west Himalayas and Western Tibet upto 2500 meters msl. It is found in the in mild-hills, ranging from 1,100 to 1,700 meters above the mean sea-level in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir. Most of the plants are seedlings, with varying flesh and kernel characters.

1. Botanical Name : Prunus nepalensis (Ser). Steud.

2. Family : Rosaceae

3. Common Name : Wild peach, Sohiong

4. Name in Indian languages

Jangaliaru, Arupate (Nepali), Arupaty (Bengali), Sohiong (Khasi), Sajong (Assamese).

1. Botanical Name : Prunus persica Batsch

2. Family : Rosaeceae

3. Common Name : Wild peach

4. Name in Indian languages

Kateru, Katakiaru (Himachali), Kathu aru (Kumaoni).

5. Description

The wild peach is closely related to cultivated peach. Many wild forms of peach are found in Himalayan hills. The most distinguishing feature of this form is the very late ripening of its fruits. The fruits of this wild plant ripen at some places as late as October. The fruits are smaller than cultivated varieties and bitter and acidic in taste.

6. Origin and distribution

The peach is native to himalayan region. These wild peaches are found in plenty in the Solan, Sirmur and Simla Districts of Himachal Pradesh. The plants are also found Kumaon and Garhwal divisions of Uttarakhand.

1. Botanical Name : Prunus undulata Buch.-Ham.

2. Family : Rosaceae

3. Common Name : Dieng tyrkhung

4. Name in Indian languages

Dieng tyrkhung (Khasi).

5. Description

It is locally known as Dieng tyrkhung in Meghalaya and belongs to Rosaceae family. It is a rare species growing wild in Khasi and Jaintia Hills occurring in mountainous or hilly forests or river valleys. It is a small deciduous tree, upright and moderately branched. It can grow 5 - 16 metres tall. The fruits are harvested from the wild for local used as a food and source of materials. It thrives in a well-drained moisture-retentive loamy soil.

Common name    :    Shaving brush tree

Family    :    Malvaceae

Habit & Distribution 
The plant is a large tree (Fig. 76 a), usually seen in open forests often scattered through fields and over plains, besides on open rocky hillsides. It is distributed throughout Indian.

General characters
It is large deciduous tree, which grows up to 30-40 feet in height. The leaves at first are bright red turning fine green as they mature. Flowers are having silky rose-pink stamens topped with yellow pollen. The wood is interesting as well, showing strippings of greens, yellows, brown and white. The plant flowers during October-February.

Lucke (1862) first described that the bluish green discolouration of surgical dressing is associated with the presence of small vibrio like organisms. Gessard (1882) first isolated the bacteria as Pseudomonas.

Identification of the etiologic agent of glanders was performed in 1882 by isolating a bacterium from the infected liver and spleen of horse. Since its discovery, the pathogen has been classified as Loefflerella mallei, Pfeifferella mallei, Malleomyces mallei, Actinobacillus mallei, Corynebacterium mallei, Mycobacterium mallei, Pseudomonas mallei, and currently as Burkholdria mallei. The genus Burkholderia was created to accommodate former rRNA group II (Pseudomallei group) Pseudomonas bacteria. It was based on the 16S rRNA sequences, DNA-DNA homology values, cellular lipid and fatty acid composition.

1. Botanical Name : Pyrus pashia L.

2. Family : Rosaceae

3. Common Name : Himalayan pear, Indian wild pear, Wild pear

4. Name in Indian languages

Kainth, Chotia, Kaimh, Shegal (Himachali), Mehal, mol (Hindi), Mehal, mol (Kumaoni), Mayal, Passi (Nepali), Kainth, Shegal (Punjabi), Sohshur (Khasi), Soh ait-syiar (Pnar), Tangi (Kashmiri).

5. Description

Himalayan pear is a small, deciduous tree of rosaceae family. It is common in open field borders and forest margins from 1000-2400m. The tree reaches up to a height of 5-8 m. The stem is greyish brown and rough. The flowering takes place in the month of February-March and the fruits mature in month of October to November. Fruits are globose, brown ultimately becoming black and rough. The fruits are astringent in taste when immature. The ripe fruits are sour -sweet with some astringency. This is widely used as rootstock for pear.

1. Botanical Name : Pyrus serotina Rehd.

2. Family : Pomaceae

3. Common Name : Wild pear (large-fruited type)

4. Name in Indian languages

Bada kainth, Shiara, Zarenth (Himachali), Shiara, Garmehal (Kumaoni).

5. Description

The trees of Pyrus serotina is found throughout the mid-hill region of Himalaya. The population of this species is very less as compare to Pyrus pashia. The fruits of this species are larger and less gritty. It is cold-hardy, tolerate low temperatures when dormant. It also has lower chilling requirements than most other.

6. Origin and distribution

It is native of central and East Asia form . It found in North Western Himalayan region.

Family: Brassicaceae

Flowering: December-January

Fruiting: January-February

Botanical description: The plant is an edible root vegetable growing upto 20-40cm in height. leaves usually are medium green and lobed and have a rough texture, lower leaves are lyrate, upper ones is lobed. The flowers are cross-shaped with four petals, usually about an inch across and white, pink or purple in colour. The seed pods are sickle shaped, 2-12" long, first green, then turning brown when mature. They are full of little round seeds.

1. Botanical Name : Rhus semialata Murr

2. Family : Anacardiaceae

3. Common Name : Chinese Sumac, Chinese gall, Nutgall tree

4. Name in Indian languages

Tatri (Hindi), Heimaang (Manipuri), Bhaki amilo, Chuk Amilo, Dudhe Bhalaayo, Bhangil (Nepali), Sohmad/ Sohmluh (Khasi), Sohsama (Pnar).

5. Description

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree with an open, spreading crown. It usually grows up to 12 metres tall. The trunk can be 6-18cm in diameter. The plant has an extensive root system and spreads by means of suckers, often forming thickets. The tree has edible fruits. It has several having medicinal properties. It is good source of tannins and dye. Fruits are gathered from the wild and mainly used locally. Galls produced as a result of insect activity on the plant are widely used medicinally in East Asia.

        Odia- Jada/Gab

Common name    :    English- Castor bean
        Hindi- Arandi 
        Odia- Jada/Gab
        
Family    :    Euphorbiaceae
 
Habit & Distribution
The plant is a shrub or small tree (Fig. 77 a), often found in wastelands, fields, gardens and near villages. Also cultivated as a cash crop. It is widely distributed throughout the dry parts of India.
 
General Characters
The plant is a fast growing, sucking perennial tree that reaches the size up to 12 m. The leaves are 15-45 cm long, stalked, alternate and palmate with 5-12 deep lobes. The flowers are borne in terminal panicle like inflorescences of green or shades of red monoecious flowers without petals. The fruit is spiny, greenish capsule containing large and oval bean like seeds. The plant flowers and bears fruits during most parts of the year.

History of rickettsial infections went back to 16^th century and it has long been associated with famine and war. Epidemic typhus had major impact to decide over the outcome of several wars. The epidemic alone killed or caused great sufferings to over 1,00,000 people during World Wars. However, the causative agent was not determined until the early part of the 20^th century. Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) was the first detected rickettsial infection in 1896 in Idaho Valley, USA. It was originally known as ‘black measles’ due to its clinical appearance in the form of characteristic spotted rash throughout the body. Howard Taylor Ricketts, an American pathologist for the first time described the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and was able to isolate it in the laboratory animals during 1902-1909. He was a dedicated scientist and on several occasions injected himself with the pathogen for experiment. The causative pathogen of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii was named after him. Later, the family Rickettsiaceae as well as the order Rickettsiales was named after him. Ernest William Goodpasture, an American pathologist and physician, invented the methods of isolation and culturing the rickettsial pathogens in chicken embryos and fertilized chicken eggs.

Family: Convolvulaceae

Flowering: October-November

Fruiting: November-December

Botanical description: The plant is a large climber with silky branches. The leaves are broadly ovate, 5-8.7 cm in diameter with obtuse apex. Flowers are large, yellowish-white in colour, fragrant, 6 cm long, 5 cm across on 1-3 flowered with long tubes. Fruit is globose, 1.2 cm in diameter, enclosed by enlarged and woody calyx.

Common name    :    English- Rose
        Hindi-Gulab
        Odia- Golap

Family    :    Rosaceae
 
Habit & Distribution 
It is a shrub (Fig. 78 a), commonly planted in gardens and also cultivated.

General Characters
The plant is a woody, perennial shrub. The leaves are borne alternately on the stem. In most species, they are 5-15 cms long, elliptic-lanceolate, pinnate with 3-11 leaflets. Flowers are usually white or pink, though in a species yellow or red with 5 cm across. The aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry like structure called a rosehip. The plant flowers during February-March.

1. Botanical Name : Rourea minor (Gaertn.) Alston

2. Family : Connaraceae

3. Common Name : Cow Vine, Big-leaved Rourea

4. Name in Indian languages

Cheriyamarikunni, Kuriel (Malayalam), Puli pan (Kodwa), Hulimajge hannu (Kannada).

5. Description

It is a large woody climbing shrubs of family Connaraceae. Stem is black. Leaves are compound with 3-7 leaflets. Flowers in axillary panicled cymes.The fruits ripe in June –August. Whole fruit expect the rind and seed is consumed at ripe stage. It is rarely found. Rourea minor is a vigorous climbing shrub producing stems up to 25 metres long that climb into the surrounding vegetation.Although poisonous, the plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use in traditional medicine.