Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants

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Dr. L. D. Kapoor, Ph.D, is a retired scientist from the National Botanical Research Institute,Lucknow, a national laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. He is now a resident of New Jersey. Dr. Kapoor received his B.Sc. degree from Punjab University, the M.Sc. degree from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, and the Ph.D. degree from London University.

He was selected to work in the Drug Research Laboratory of Jammu and the Kashmir Government and later appointed as Botanist-in-Charge, Botany Division. He initiated research on pharmacognostic studies, and the technoeconomic survey and cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants, some of which were grown on a semi-commercial scale. He was the recipient of a research grant from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for cultural studies on exotic medicinal plants. In 1955 he was deputed to the London School of Pharmacy for advanced studies and training in pharmacognosy, where he worked for the Ph.D. degree under Prof. J. W. Fairbain

The ancient system of medical treatment is based on the rich experiences of innumerable Vaidyas over thousands of years, having trials on hundreds and thousands of human beings to its credit, to which no modern system of treatment in the world can ordinarily lay claim. This is one possible reason why this system has survived the critics through the ages and is still catering to the health needs of millions all over the world. The system is basically within the economic reach of the common individual because of nature's bounty to mankind in herbal wealth of medicinal value

I received helpful cooperation and encouragement from a number of scientists, for which I am very grateful. The names of Dr. James A. Duke, Dr. G. M. Hocking, Dr. William C. Steere, Dr. G. V. Satyavati, Prof. P. N. Mehra, Prof. T. S. Sadasivan, Dr. S. R. Tandon, and Dr. S. B. Malla need special mention.

For permission to reproduce plates from their reprinted book Indian Medicinal Plants, by Kirtikar and Basu, I am indebted to Messrs. Bishen Singh and Mahinderpal Singh of Dehradun. To Little Brown & Company, Boston, I am grateful for permission to reproduce the drawing of Rauwolfia serpentina and its pharmacognostical description.

I am especially indebted to the Director General of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi for permission to reproduce excerpts from Medicinal Plants of India, Volumes 1 and 2. I am also grateful to Dr. W. C. Evans for permission to reproduce some excerpts from his book, Pharmacognosy (12th Edition, 1983).

For providing the up-to-date botanical nomenclature, I am particularly grateful to the Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, England; the President of the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun; Prof. Cecil J. Saldanha, S. J., Director of the Center for Taxonomic Studies, St. Joseph's College, Bangalore; and to Dr. H. O. Saxena, Scientist, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubneshwar (Orissa).