eChapters

2.1 Operators

Operators are those who perform some specific operation. Python has a wide variety of operators. The various python operators are categorized into:

1. Arithmetic operators

2. Comparison/relational operators

3. Assignment operators

4. Logical operators

5. Identity operators

6. Membership operators

7. Bitwise operator

1.1 Introduction

Python is an interpreter, high level, general purpose programming language developed by Guido Van Rossum and its first version was released in 1991. There are two major Python versions: Python 2 and Python 3. Both are quite different.

1.2 Beginning with Python Programming

1.2.1 Finding an Interpreter

Before we start Python programming, we need to have an interpreter to interpret and run our programs.

Windows: There are many interpreters available freely to run Python scripts like IDLE (Integrated Development Environment) that comes bundled with the Python software downloaded from http://python.org/.

Linux: Python comes preinstalled with popular Linux distros such as Ubuntu and Fedora. To check which version of Python you’re running, type “python” in the terminal emulator. The interpreter should start and print the version number.

macOS: Generally, Python 2.7 comes bundled with macOS. You’ll have to manually install Python 3 from http://python.org/.

Violaceae

Morphological characteristics

Banafsha is a small perennial herb with a short semi-subterranean fleshy stem (rootstock).The older parts bear fibrous roots. The upper younger portion is marked with close circular scars of the leaves of the previous years, and gives off elongated, rather fleshy, leafless runners. Leaves are ovate and crenate–serrate.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are borne on long, slender, axillary stalks (scapes) exceeding the leaves. Flowers are lilac, blue, white or purple in colour and borne on the main stem, the larger ones being 6–12 mm in diameter. The flowers arising from the axils of the cauline leaves are minute. The cleistogamous (underground) flowers measure about 1 mm across. Fruit is a few seeded, globose capsule. Flowering occurs during February–March, while fruiting occurs during April–May.

Morphological characteristics

A large elegant evergreen tree, grows up to 30 m. high, with a clean, cylindrical bole of 15 m. and a girth of 4.5 m. Bark is rough, whitish to grey, peeling off in thick round flakes. Leaves are coriaceous, Ovate to Oblong, entire (Leaf falls in March, new foliage appears in April-May, the second flush of foliage starts after rains, in October to December.) Fruit is a Capsule, ovoid, pale brown, fleshy, 8 to 11cm long, and 3.5 to 6 cm in Diameter. 1 seeded, reddish white, filled with fat. Ripens during June to July.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are bisexual, about 2 cm across, white, slightly fragrant, arranged in panicles. Panicle is robust, multi-branched, up to 15 cm long and drooping. Fruit is capsules, 4-6 cm X 2-4 cm in size, pale brown, fleshy, hard when dry, splitting by 3 valves when ripe.

Distribution

A slow-growing species, Endemic & found primarily in the South west coast evergreen forests, upto an altitude of 750 m, and also occasionally in secondary evergreen dipterocarp forest in the states of Karnataka, Kerala & Tamil Nadu.

Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers (family: Menispermaceae) commonly known as “Amrita” or” Guduchi” of “Giloy” is a climbing shrub found throughout India. T. cordifolia has high medicinal value in the world and is also the number one recommended natural herb for the Indian system of medicine (ISM) which has been used over centuries to treat various diseases. The roots and stems contain several secondary metabolites having curative properties. The species is endemic to India and is common throughout tropical and subtropical zones at an altitude of 600 m.

Species

• Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. F & Thoms
• Cocculus cordifolius DC.
• Menispermum cardifolium Willd
• T. glabra (N. Burm.) Merr.

Morphological characteristics

It is a big climber that grows over the highest trees in the forest and produces aerial roots up to 10 metres long. It’s a sprawling climbing shrub with a slew of elongated twining branches. Giloy leaves are simple, exstipulate, alternating, with long petioles up to 15 cm long, pulvinate, and roundish at the base and apex, with the basal one being longer and twisted partially and halfway around. Oval-cordate or roughly oval lamina, 15-20 cm long and 10-15 cm wide, 7 nerved and deeply cordate at base, glabrous above, membranous, whitish yellow with a conspicuous reticulum beneath.

Morphological characteristics

Tecomella undulata is a slow growing small deciduous tree with drooping branches and grey-tomentose innovations which are otherwise glabrous. Leaves are usually opposite, 5- 10 cm long, simple, narrowly oblong, obtuse and entire with undulate margins.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are pale-yellow to deep orange, arranged in few flowered corymbose racemes on short lateral branches. Calyx is campanulate, lobes broadly ovate, obtuse and mucronate. Corolla is companulate, veined, stamens exserted, flaments glabrous, stigma 2-lamillate. Capsules are slightly curved, smooth and seeds are winged.

Distribution

Plant is distributed in drier parts of North-West and Western India extending eastwards to the river Yamuna and ascending to an altitude of 1200 meter in the outer Himalaya.

Climate and Soil The plant prefers subtropical climate having medium to light soil.

Morphological characteristics

Strychnos nux-vomica is a medium sized deciduous tree. The trunk is tall, thick, straight and cylindrical covered with yellowish-grey to dark grey, smooth and thin barks. Wood is dense, hard white and close grained. Branches are irregular and covered with smooth ash colored bark and shiny dark green young shoots. Leaves are broad, opposite, simple and entire, smooth, short-stalked, blade orbicular to broadly elliptical or ovate, base rounded to cordate, apex shortly acuminate or acute, glabrous and shiny above, minutely hairy especially on veins beneath, 3–5-veined from the base.

Floral characteristics

Inflorescence is terminal cymes, many-flowered and appears with young leaves at the end of branchlets or on axillary shoots. Flowers hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, homogamous, greenish-white colored, small in size, nectariferous, funnel-shaped and emits unpleasant odour. Flower are pentamerous; calyx lobes ovate, outside densely hairy. Corolla bears a slender tube of 1 cm long, abruptly widening at the throat, outside glabrous, having pubescence at base, lobes narrowly ovate, of 3 mm long, margin thickened and minutely hairy, greenish white to white; stamens inserted at the mouth of the corolla tube, exserted altering with corolla lobes. Anthers pale cream in color, dithecous, introrse and dehisce longitudinally. Ovary is superior, ovoid, glabrous, bicarpellary with axile placentation. The style is filiform, glabrous and as long as the corolla tube, stigma capitates (head-shaped).

In the coffee family Rubiaceae, Rubia cordifolia L. (RC) is a useful medicinal plant in the Ayurvedic system due to its many pharmacological characteristics. It is also known as common Madder or Indian Madder. It was grown for a red pigment generated from the roots. Rubia was divided into roughly 70 species that were found all over the world, including 36 species and two variants described from China. Because of their high bioactivities, Rubia plant extracts and phytochemicals have gotten a lot of interest.

Morphological characteristics

It is a perennial, prickly climber with a stem, growing up to 12 m long. Leaves are highly variable, ovate lanceolate, 5-7 nerved, 2-10 cm long and 2-5 cm broad, occurring in whorls of 4-6. The stems are slender and quadrangular. The leaves are simple, opposite and stipulate, the stipule is interpetiolar. The petiole is 1.5–3 cm long. The blade is lanceolate, 1.5–5 cm × 0.5–2.5 cm, cordate at base, obtuse acuminate at apex and displays three to five longitudinal nerves. Roots are perennial, long, cylindrical, and rusty brown in colour

Morphological characteristics

Rewand chini is a perennial stout herb, 1.5–3.0 m tall. Roots are very stout and thick. Leaves are radical, orbicular, or broadly ovate, very large, and 30–45 cm in diameter with long petioles.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are small, dark purple or pale red in axillary panicles. The plant has three to five years of juvenile phase, followed by reproductive phase. Flowering occurs in June–July. Seeds are collected in late August–September, when they turn dark brown. Seed production potential varies from 300 seeds to 950 seeds per plant.

Distribution

The species occurs in the temperate Himalayas, from Kashmir to Sikkim, at an elevation of 2800–4000 m. It is found in alpine zone on rocky soil, moraines, and crevices, between boulders and near streams in specific pockets. It is sporadically cultivated in the North-eastern states for its leaves, which are used as vegetable.

Climate and soil

Rewand chini plant is restricted to the temperate, sub-alpine, and alpine zones of the Himalayas. Well-drained, porous, humus-rich soil is suitable for its cultivation. It prefers exposed or partially shaded habitat and can be cultivated on altitudes above 1800 m in height.

Morphological characteristics

Straight bole, longitudinally fissured bark, imparipinnate and elliptic leaves, fragrant flowers in huge panicles, and winged, flat pods distinguish Pterocarpus species in the field. The tree can grow up to 30 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide, with a straight and clean bole. The bark is scaly, tough, and fissured longitudinally. Leaflets are five to seven in number, 8–13 cm long, oblong or elliptic in shape, or rotund in shape, with 15–20 pairs of lateral veins. Kino-gum is a fragrant, brittle, almost black oleo-resin obtained from tree trunks that is angular and glistering and comes in minute flakes..

Floral characteristics

Yellow flowers bloom in panicles that are 1–5 cm long and fragrant. Flat, orbicular, winged pods with a diameter of up to 5 cm. Seeds range from one to three in number, are bony, and have a convex form. Flowering starts in November, and fruits lasts until March.

Distribution

The tree can be found in central and peninsular India, primarily in dry mixed deciduous tropical forests in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, as well as sub-Himalayan tracts, at elevations of up to 1000 metres. Natural populations have plummeted, and there are hardly any fragile young saplings in the forest. Due to a lack of autogenic reproduction, this species is endangered.

Plants containing lignans have been utilised as folk medicines in traditional medicine of many different cultures for over 1000 years. Plants high in lignin, such as Kadsura coccinea (Schizandraceae), Fraxinus sp., and Olea europaea, have long been employed in Chinese, Japanese, and Eastern world folk medicine. Lignans are an important family of starting products for the development of new therapeutic agents based on structural modifications of such compounds due to their widespread use in traditional medicine. Podophyllum hexandrum, a plant with a high lignin concentration, has been employed throughout history and in modern times. It has been used extensively in ancient Ayurvedic medicine to treat a variety of disorders such as Condyloma acuminate, Taenia capitis, monocytoid leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, cancer of brain, lung, bladder and venereal warts.

The Himalayan locals have long used Indian Podophyllum, with an aqueous extract of the roots being a frequent cathartic. It has also been used as an ophthalmia treatment. Thomson tested the resin from the Indian plant in 1890 and found 56 percent podophyllotoxin concentration. Podwyssotzki discovered podophyllotoxin as the active principle of podophyllin in 1880 and obtained it in a pure state. Several lignans have been found in the rhizomes of Podophyllum hexandrum, which are dimerization products of phenylpropanoid pathway intermediates linked by the central carbons of their side chains.

Pistacia integerrima Stewart (Pistaceaceae) is an ethnobotanically important tree native to Asia. Pistacia integerrima is a species of pistachio tree native to Asia, commonly called zebrawood or the crab’s claw. It is often classified as Pistacia chinensis ssp. integerrima.

Pistacia integerrima, commonly known as kakra shingi, is a moderate-sized deciduous tree, up to 18 m in height, with a short stout bole found in the Himalayas from Indus to Kumaon. Hard, horn-shaped, rugose, hollow galls like excrescences are formed on the leaves and petioles of the plant by an insect of Pemphigus species. Dry powdered galls have a very astringent and slightly bitter taste and terebinthine odour. This tree is also used as a rootstock in the cultivation of commercial pistachios

Morphological characteristics

It is a moderate sized deciduous tree with rough grey bark. Leaves are 15-23 cm long with or without a terminal leaflet. Leaflet is stalked, 4-5 sub-opposite pairs, lanceolate, coriaceous, entire and arched. Flowers are greenish-yellow or brownish in colour, dioecious, 0.2 cm diameter, reddish in lateral, puberulous panicles, appearing with or just before the young leaves.

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. (family Bignoniaceae Juss.) also known as Broken bones tree, Indian trumpet flower, Midnight horror, Shivnak, Sonapatha and Shyonaka. O. indicum is being used as medicinal herb for thousands of years without any known adverse effects. The tree is named as ^”Tree of Damocles^” after an incident depicted in an ancient story by Cicero. O. indicum Vent is a small or medium sized deciduous tree growing throughout Asia continent. It has been used traditionally for a wide diversity of ailments such as cancer, diarrhea, fever, ulcer, jaundice and arthritis. Destructive and non-sustainable collection methods coupled with low regeneration and habitat destruction have posed serious threats to the survival and availability of this highly useful tree. The existence of O. indicum in natural population is highly threatened and it has been categorized as endangered and vulnerable by the Government of India. There have been number of scientific studies conducted to evaluate the toxic effects of the plant. Almost all the studies have shown that O. indicum is not toxic to humans even up to high doses.

Morphological characteristics

O. indicum is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree with soft light brown or greyish brown bark and corky lenticels that grows up to 12 metres tall. The leaves are big, 90-180 cm long, 2-3 pinnate with 5 or more pairs of primary pinnae, rachis is fast, cylindrical, swelling at branch junctions, leaflets are 2-4 pairs, oblong or elliptic, acuminate, glabrous. The enormous leaf stalks wither and fall off the tree, accumulating towards the trunk’s base and resembling a jumble of broken limb bones.

Operculina turpethum (OT) Silva Manso, also known as Tihudi/Trivrit due to its triangular stem, is an Ayurvedic herb from India that belongs to the Convolvulaceae family. Indian Jalap/Turpeth root in English, Nisoth/Turpeth/ Panila/Pithori in Hindi, Trivrit in Sanskrit, Tegada in Telugu, Trikolpakkonna/ Triputa/Sivata in Malayalam, Sigade in Kannada, and Kumbham/Sivatai in Tamil are some of the other names for it. It grows up to 1000 square feet on Indian roadsides and is occasionally cultivated as an adornment in gardens.

Morphological characteristics

The crop is a fragrant perennial creeper with a basic stem that might be triangular or rectangular. The leaves are many and oval in shape, measuring 2 to 5 inches in length. It consists of cylindrical pieces of root and stem, 1.5-15 cm long x 1-5 cm diameter, with the central woody portion removed by splitting the bark on one side, external surface longitudinally furrowed giving the drug a rope-like appearance, odour distinct but unpleasant or musty, taste bland at first, then slightly acrid, fracture short in bark and fibrous in wood, odour distinct but unpleasant or musty. The root portions are cylindrical, twisted, and a dull grey tint on the outside. The flower arrangement is 1 to 4 inches long and includes three to four branches with white blooms. Fruit is round ½ or ¾ inch in diameter, it bears 4 shiny 2 inch long seeds. The plant bears fruits and flowers from March to December.

Morphological characteristics

Nardostachys species is a perennial rooted herb with a strong woody main root that grows 10-60 cm tall. The rootstock is strong and lengthy, with petioles of withered leaves clinging to it. The stems are pubescent above and glabrate below. Leaves are both Cauline and radical. Cauline leaves are sessile, occur in two to three pairs, are 2.0 cm 0.6 cm in size, decrease in size from base to top, and are oblong or sub-ovate in shape. Radical leaves are large (15-22 cm 1.5-2.5 cm), six to eight in number, longitudinally nerved, slightly pubescent, and narrow down into the petiole, whereas cauline leaves are sessile, occur in two to three pairs, are longitudinally nerved, The jatamansi rhizome is dark brown, tapered, and densely coated with the remains of old leaf bases, giving it the appearance of a heavy beard, and hence the name jatamansi. The fibrous rhizome may be 6-9 cm long with about 20-30 cm-long yellowish taproot. A single root may bear 30-50 rhizomes.

Floral characteristics

Flowering shoots are 30–40 cm tall and produce 40–50 blooms in three to seven condensed cymes at the summit. Flowers are campanulate and range in colour from pinkish red to bluish white. The hairy corolla tube is 6 mm long. The 4-mm-long hairs on the fruit are capped by the sharp, often dentate, calyx teeth. Flowering takes place between June and August, depending on elevation, while fruits takes place between September and October. Seeds are gathered in October when they turn pale brown in colour.

Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. This evergreen conifer has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from theArctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia. Relict populations can be found in the Atlas Mountains of Africa.

As to be expected from the wide range, J. communis is very variable, with several infraspecific taxa; delimitation between the taxa is still uncertain, with genetic data not matching morphological data well.

• Subsp. communis – Common juniper. Usually an erect shrub or small tree; leaves long, 8–20(–27) mm; cones small, 5–8 mm, usually shorter than the leaves; found at low to moderate altitude in temperate climates.
• Subsp. communis var. communis – Europe, most of northern Asia
• Subsp. communis var. depressa Pursh – North America, Sierra Nevada in California
• Subsp. communis var. hemisphaerica (J.Presl & C.Presl) Parl. – Mediterranean mountains
• Subsp. communis var. nipponica (Maxim.) E.H.Wilson – Japan (status uncertain, often treated as J. rigida var. nipponica)

Inula racemosa is an Asian plant in the daisy family native to the temperate and alpine western Himalayas of Xinjiang, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan. Inula racemosa Hook. f., is a critically endangered perennial herb distributed throughout the Himalaya; commercially useful in pharmaceutical products.

Morphological characteristics

The species is a perennial herb that grows up to 1.5 metres tall & has a scented root and rootstock. Large number of stems ascend from the rootstock’s base. Leaves are leathery, rough above and densely hairy below, 25-50 cm long and 10-12 cm wide, and elliptic-lanceolate in shape, 25-50 cm long and 10-12 cm wide.

Floral biology

Flower heads are yellow with bisexual florets and arise in terminal racemes. Flowering takes place from January to July, while fruiting takes place from October to November. Fruits (achenes) are slender and about 0.5 cm long.

Diabetes mellitus is a severe endocrine illness that affects almost 10% of the world’s population and is a serious public health concern. In its most severe form, the disease affects major body systems, resulting in multiorgan problems. Oral hypoglycemic medicines such as sulphonylureas and biguanides are the most commonly used treatments, although their negative side effects are a significant drawback. Herbal medications are gaining popularity as a result of their superior outcomes and safety when compared to commercially available drugs, as well as their ability to address health problems more effectively.

Plants with anti-diabetic qualities are of particular interest to the ethnobotanical community since they are known to contain useful medicinal properties in various parts of the world, and a number of them have demonstrated variable degrees of hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic action. Several plant species that are high in terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, coumarins, and other bioactive compounds have been found to lower blood sugar levels.

Gudmar (Gymnema sylvestre Retz) is a valuable medicinal woody climber from the Asclepiadaceae family. The medicinal climber is well-known for its antidiabetic qualities. Its formulations have potent taste modifying properties, reducing sweet taste sensations in particular. Gymnema sylvestre is known in Hindi as gurmar, which means “sugar destroyer.” The plant has become vulnerable as a result of increased demand and destructive harvesting. The genus is classified into 40 species, some of which like G. sylvestre, G. montanum, G. yunnanense, and G. inodorum have medicinal properties. The leaf extracts contain gymnemic acids, the major bioactive constituents that interact with taste receptors on the tongue to temporarily suppress the taste of sweetness.

Morphological characteristics

It is a moderately deciduous tree with straight trunk and numerous spreading branches, which form large shady crown with whitish grey corky lenticellate bark, exfoliating in thin flakes. It has a clear bole of 6.0-9.0 meter, and a girth 1.5-2.5m. Branchlets and young parts are clothed with fine white mealy pubescence. Leaves are simple, opposite, broadly ovate, cordate, glandular, glabrous above when mature and fulvous-tomentose beneath. It attains its largest dimension in the mixed forests of moist region as in the eastern sub Himalayan track, Assam and elsewhere in south India.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are 2.5-5.0 cm in diameter, brownish yellow that ends in terminal panicle. Calyx is campanulate, pubescent outside and with 5 lobes. Corolla is showy, brownish yellow with short tube and oblique limbs. Stamens are 4 in number and didynamous. Ovary is 4 chambered with one ovule each; style slender ending in a bifid stigma. Fruits are drupe and obovoid in shape, 1.8-2.5 cm long, pericarp leathery, shining yellow outside when dry; endocarp bony, embedded in an aromatic sweetish pulp. Seeds are 1 or 2, hard and oblong ex-albuminous. The panicles of flowers appear from February to April.

Distribution

Though it is a native of Asia, it has extensively been planted in tropical areas of Africa, Asia, Australia, America, West Indies, and on several islands in Pacific Ocean. In India, it is naturally distributed in Eastern SubHimalayan tract, Aravali Hills, Western Peninsula, Indo-Gangetic plains, Western Himalaya and Central India. It occurs naturally from 5° to 30°N longitude and between 50 to 1300 m elevations.

Morphological characteristics

It is an annual/perennial herb with prostrate spreading branches in all directions. The root system is deep. Leaflets are 2.5-5 cm long, elliptical, oblong and rounded at base. Leaves are densely clothed with white appressed and long spreading hairs. In nature, seedlings appear after 2-3 showers during July-August. Generally, the seedlings are abundant under the canopy of trees or shrubs. The young seedling grows straight and produces lateral branches during first week of August. The lateral branches spread in all directions. The flowering starts during first week of August. Fruit formation takes place in the last week of August, while flowering still continues. The dispersal of the seeds takes place from September to December. Plant dries during November-December.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are blue in colour and axillary in position. They are either solitary or in pairs on the long stalk. Styles are two and each is bifid. Fruit is globose with four-valved capsule containing dark brown to black smooth seeds. The flower colour varies from dark purple to whitish-purple.

Distribution

Plant is commonly found growing in open and grassy places, almost throughout India, ascending upto 1500 meter in the Himalayas. It is cultivated also in the sub-tropical parts of India, ascending upto 1800 meter elevation.