Want to be a Nomad

On one of the tree walks  in  Lalbagh   I clicked a picture of this plant remembering that this was one of the species which had antimalarial properties .It was identified as kyllinga nemoralis with the help of  Indian flora face book page( Id credit Vinay raj and Alka Khare ) . Kyllinga nemoralis also known as White Water Sedge, White kyllinga, • Hindi: निर्विषी Nirvishi • Manipuri: কৌথুম Kouthum • Tamil: வெலுத்த நிர்பஸீ Velutta nirbasi • Malayalam: വെലുത്ത നിര്വസീ Velutta nirvasi, Palnivasi, Pimuttanna • Telugu: Gandala • Sanskrit: श्वेतनिर्विष Svetanirvisa;

On looking up for more information on the net I realized that I had clicked a weed that has a  very good potential to become a drug which can cure various ailments. Surprisingly  this plant  has been reported as a weed world wide which affects turf grass  .Trees and plant extracts have been used in herbal remedies of various ailments since the beginning of human civilization . Kyllinga nemoralis (Hutch & Dalz) (Cyperaceae) is a plant widely used throughout the world and frequently used for its anti-venom property. An extensive study of the research on the ethanobotanical, phytochemical and pharmacological potential of Kyllinga nemoralis   revealed that flavonoids, saponins, phenols, terpenes, lipids and glycosides constitute major classes of phytoconstituents of this plant. Pharmacological reports revealed that it is having analgesic, antidiabetic, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective,antivenomous  and antimalarial properties. Kyllinga nemoralis seems to hold great potential for in-depth investigation for various biological activities. Through this review the authors (Raju S, Kavimani S, Uma Maheshwara rao V, Sreeramulu Reddy K ) hope to attract the attention of natural product researchers throughout the world to focus on the unexplored potential of Kyllinga nemoralis, and it may be useful in developing new formulations with more therapeutic value.

Obviously the medicinal properties matter more than the turf grass .It is time for us to realize that it is important to preserve the knowledge of plants used in medicines by our ancestors .