Lavatera Kashmiriana: Distribution, and Characteristics
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Malva
Species: Lavatera kashmiriana
Distribution
Though originally indigenous to the Kashmir valley Lavatera cachemeriana Cambess or Lavatera Kashmiriana (Malvaceae) is a valuable decorative and medicinal herb of Kashmir Himalaya, India (Sharma, 2003; Kaul,1977).
Introduction
Lavatera Kashmiriana is a Kashmir Valley indigenous and endangered plant (Molur and Walker, 1998). It is a lovely, semi-evergreen, perennial tall mallow flowering Kashmiri plant that grows in humus-rich soils in meadows, shrubberies, and forest clearings (Ford, 1938; Sharma, 2003; Kaul, 1997; Vidyarthi, 2010). Roots as a laxative (Sharma, 2003), gastrointestinal problems and renal colic (Kaul, 2010), flowers for common cold and mumps, and seeds as an antiseptic. L. cachemiriana is a valuable ornamental and medicinal herb that was once only found in the Kashmir valley (Molur and Walker, 1998; Kaul, 1977), but is now distributed throughout the western Himalayas from Pakistan to Uttar Pradesh/Uttaranchal (Sharma, 2003; Kaul, 1977).
Characteristics
1. It is known as sazakul in Kashmiri or reshkhatmi in Persian (Vidyarthi, 2010), and several names are used locally for different sections of this plant species, such as sazposh for flowers, sazamool for roots (Kaul, 1997; Vidyarthi, 2010), and wan sotsal for leaves (Kaul, 1997; Vidyarthi, 2010).
2. This lovely, perennial, tall mallow flowering plant grows in humus-rich soils, meadows, shrubberies, and woodland clearings (Ford, 1938; Sharma, 2003; Kaul, 1997; Vidyarthi, 2010).
3. It has a wiry stem that grows up to 2m tall and 3-5 lobed velvety-textured heart-shaped leaves, with lower leaves having 5 round lobes and upper leaves having 3-5 lobes, with the central lobe being much longer than the side lobes.
4. It blooms from July to September and features funnel-shaped, silky-textured, clear, hermaphrodite, lilac-pink coloured flowers.
5. It is propagated by little, blackish, kidney-shaped seeds (Molur and Walker, 1998; Sharma, 2003; Kaul, 1977).
Chemical constituents
Dar et al. (2004) isolated two diterpene compounds from L.cachemeriana: ent-pimmaran,15-diene-19- oic acid and ent-pimmarane, Dodecanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid,cis-trans-p-coumaric acid, cis-/trans-p-coumaric acid methyl ester, caffeic acid methyl ester, ferulic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic, gallic, vanillic, isovanillic, syringic, ellagic, chlor (Wozniaka et al., 2007). The Malvaceae family contains a variety of phytocompounds that have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, hepatoprotective, anti-malarial, analgesic, and other biological characteristics (Franz and Chladek, 1973).
Medicinal Uses
1. Traditionally, the roots of L. cachemiriana C. (Kashmiri tall mallow) have been used as a laxative (Sharma, 2003), for gastrointestinal diseases, renal colic (Kaul, 2010; Handa, 2006)
2. The flowers have been used for common colds, mumps, and seeds as antiseptics, among other things (Dar et al., 2002; Jeelani et al., 2013; Malik et al., 2011).
3. When applied to the scalp, the root decoction of L. cachemeriana is used as an anti-dandruff agent and is said to promote hair growth.
4. Its roots are sold as a crude drug in Kashmiri markets and are used in Unani medicinal concoctions, such as for throat difficulties and as a mild laxative (Kaul, 1997; Vidyarthi, 2010).
5. It was once a well-known treatment for mumps in children; nevertheless, it has lately been discovered to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic qualities (Parveen, 2013).
6. The leaves and petals were used to treat skin irritation in pregnant women (Hassan, et al., 2013; Kuishu, 2007), urinary issues (Ballabh, et al., 2008), and antibacterial properties in the seeds (Hassan, et al., 2013; Kuishu, 2007). (Dar et al., 2002; Malik et al., 2011).
7. The stems of L.Cachemiriana produce strong fibre, which is used to make threads, bags, and paper, among other things (Pfaf, 2016).
8. Recent research on this species has revealed that it has anti-lipoxygenase properties (Khattak et al., 2005), acts as a protease inhibitor and antibacterial agent against both grammes positive and gramme negative bacteria and has anti-cancer properties (Rakashanda et al, 2013; Parveen, 2013).