A Critically Endangered Medicinal Plant from the Indian Thar Desert

Research CommunicationSci. & Cult. 76 (11–12) 531–533 (2010)Status and Distribution Range of Guggal:A Critically Endangered Medicinal Plantfrom the Indian Thar DesertGuggal (Commiphora wightii), a member of familyBurseraceae, is a large pan-tropical family forming animportant element of the flora of both rain forest and aridareas. It grows on the foothills of the Aravalli ranges andalso in arid or semi-arid lands including desert areas. Thegenus Commiphora is widely distributed in tropical regionof Africa, Madagascar and Asia. The distribution furtherextends to Australia and Pacific Island. The taxonomicambiguity of species on the basis of branching patternand petiole anatomy, respectively in the localities ofAfrica 1, 2 .Previously known as Commiphora mukul (Hook. ex.Stock) Engl. Or Balsamodendron mukul Hook. ex. Stocks(1849), this plant was renamed C. roxburghii by Santapauin 1962. Later Bhandari 3 reported that the specific namewightii was published in 1839 that is prior to roxburghiiin 1948; hence, Commiphora wightii (Arnott) Bhandari isthe correct and valid Latin name. The plant is known as‘Indian bdellium’ in English, as Mahisaksha, Guggulu,Amish, Pilanksha and Per in Sanskrit and as Guggal orGuggul in most of the Indian languages.Taxonomy : It is a perennial much-branched shrub/small medium-sized tree upto 1.5-3.0 m in height as shownin Fig. 1. Stem pubescent, glandular, bark peeling off inflakes at old regions; branches crooked knotty, aromatic,end in sharp spines. Leaves sessile to sub-sessile, alternateor fascicled, 1-3 foliate; leaflets glabrous, rhomboid to ovate,terminal ones the largest; margin irregular toothed. Flowerssessile, reddish-pink, terminal or axillary, single or groupsof 2-4; calyx four lobed, campanulate, triangular, acute atthe tip, 1.8-2 mm long; corolla brownish red, linear, lobesfour, 3.8-4.0 mm long; stamens 8 in one whorl, joined atthe base of gynoecium, length of 4 long and 4 shortstalked stamens are 0.8-1.0 and 0.5-0.6 mm, respectively,which are alternately with each other; ovary two-loculed(Fig. 2), oblong, attenuated into style, ovules two in eachlocule, axillary; style slender; stigma bifid, yellowish. Fruitsovoid, single or 2-3 in a bunch, bright red when ripe, 6-7mm in diameter, marked with two longitudinal lines orgrooves; epicarp dehiscing from the base upwards, whenripe it splits into two; mesocarp yellow, rarely orange, fourlined and fused at the base. Seeds ovoid, bilobed,sometimes trilobed or rarely tetralobed, immature reddishbrown(Fig. 3A), while matured ones are yellowish whiteblack(Fig. 3B) and black (Fig. 3C). Structurally there areno significant differences in length, breadth and thicknessin all above-mentioned three types of seeds.Yadav et al. 4 reported that in C. wightii three formsexist, viz. male, female and polygamous (andromonoecious),having male and bisexual flowers both.Distribution : In Indian sub-continent six speciesoccurs in India, Pakistan, Baluchistan, etc. Out of these,only three species, viz. C. wightii, C. agallocha and C.berryi have been found in India. C. wightii occurs inRajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh andKarnataka States; C. agallocha in Orissa; while C. berryiis grown as a hedge plant in south-west India and inGwalior 4 .Phytosociology : In the present investigationsvarious morphological parameters of fruits and seeds andphytosociology (vegetation dynamics) have been studiedin detail at various natural habitats of western Indian Thardesert, starting from September 2007 till date. Mature fruitsof this species were collected from plants growing in naturalhabitats at Kiradu (Barmer), Aakal Wood Fossil Park(Jaisalmer), Beriganga and Machia Park (Jodhpur) duringJanuary-February 2008. The seeds were stored in plasticcontainers with BHC powder/parad tablets to protect themfrom insects. The length, breadth & thickness of maturefruits and seeds were 1.157, 0.877 & 0.720 cm and 0.535,0.525 & 0.350 cm, respectively. Two types of seeds, viz.black (with embryo) and white (without embryo) wereobserved in mature fruits. In field collections, thepercentage of black and white seeds was 38.0 and 62.0,respectively. Black seeds collected from natural habitatsshowed 60.0% viability and 40.0% germination undernursery conditions. Prakash 5 reported 80.0% germinationin black seeds under nursery conditions when they wereVOL. 76, NOS. 11–12 531

sown during March in 1:1:1 soil mixture ratio of sand: clay:FYM.According to Prakash et al. 6 in C. wightii, a seedproduces more than one seedling due to its polyembryonicnature. They further stated that out of the total germinatedseeds, nearly 58.6% seeds produced one seedling per seed,27.6% produced two seedlings per seed, 10.3% producedthree seedlings per seed and 3.4% produced four seedlingsper seed.Phytosociological studies at different localities of theIndian Thar desert revealed that Euphorbia caducifolia,Salvadora oleoides, Ziziphus nummularia, Grewia tenax,Capparis decidua, Acacia senegal, Maytenus emarginata,Asparagus racemosus, Aristolochia bracteolata, Prosopiscineraria, Solanum torum, Rhynchosia minima, etc. aresome of the species which are associated with it in naturalhabitats. Data further showed that E. caducifolia isabundant with this species in natural population except atAakal Wood Fossil Park research site, where A. senegaland S. oleoides were dominated. The maximum ImportantValue Index (IVI; %) values of C. wightii and E. caducifoliawere 72.49 and 38.54, respectively at various research sites.In Indian arid zone, edaphic factors play the mostimportant part and the plant associations are in relation tothe habitat, though some plants have the potentiality ofgrowing in a limited range of environmental conditions 7 .Utility and Conservation Status : Guggal-gum istraditionally used by ethnic tribes as well as in Ayurvedasystem of medicines for centuries in the treatment ofobesity, arthritis, hyperlipidemia, thrombosis, inflammatory,antimicrobial, etc. The gum resin is a complex mixture ofsteroids, diterpenoides, aliphatic esters, carbohydrates andvariety of inorganic ions, which are present in ‘Balsamcanal’ in the phloem of larger veins of the leaf and thesoft bast of stem. The price of guggal gum over last 10-15years have increased from Rs. 100-400 kg -1 indicating manyfold increase in its use as well as decrease in natural plantstand and is considered as a threatened one in India andincluded in the Red Data Book of IUCN 8 . Presently, in thedifferent localities of the Indian Thar desert, this speciesshow declining populations as well as in gum productionlevel in natural habitats every year. Kasera and Prakash 9reported that due to changes in climatic conditions, soilerosion, low rainfall, termite infestation, over-grazing bydomestic animals and mining activities have created anincreased pressure on the environment and existing naturalpopulations of this species. So, the mass destruction ofpopulation and poor regeneration in changed situationshas reduced the vegetation cover. Further, non-survival ofFigures: Commiphora wightii plant growing in natural habitat(1), T.S. of ovary showing three rudimentary and one developedovules (2), and variability in seed colour: A - reddish-brown, B -black & white, & C - black (3).532 SCIENCE AND CULTURE, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 2010

the plants after tapping and gum extraction is a major setback to plant stands in natural habitats. Now, UNDP havelisted this species as a ‘Critically Endangered’ and itsconservation status is CR A2cd, 4cd 10 .Future Needs : During our field observations wefound that this species is under higher risk for survival innatural habitats with prevailing changing environmentscenario. The basic and most important tasks to conserveand develop techniques for cultivation of this species are:(i) survey, germplasm collection and evaluation fromdifferent ecological habitats and systematic verification, (ii)refinement in tapping techniques of gum collection atoptimum commercial production level without harming theplants for future gum production and extraction, and (iii)to develop agro techniques for large scale plantation, sothat the growing demand for gum-resin by user industriesis fulfilled in near future.AcknowledgementsThe first author is thankful to the UGC, New Delhi(No. F. 17-78/98(SA-I) dated 15.2.2008) for financialassistance in the form of NET-JRF. Thanks to the Professor& Head, Department of Botany, J.N.V. University, Jodhpurfor providing facilities.HEERA LAL ANDPAWAN K. KASERA*Laboratory of Plant Ecology,Department of BotanyJai Narain Vyas University,Jodhpur 342 033, India*Corresponding authorE-mail: jnvupkkasera@yahoo.co.inReceived : 14 August, 2009Revised : 16 June, 20101M. Thomasson, Bull. de Ia Societe Botanique de, 119: 207-213 (1972).2J. J. A. Van der Walt and H. P. Van der Schijff, Kirika, 9: 95-108 (1973).3M. M. Bhandari, Bull. Bot. Surv. India, 6: 327-328 (1964).4B.B.L. Yadav, K.V. Billore, T.G. Joseph and D.D. Chatturvedi,Cultivation of Guggulu, CCRAS, New Delhi, pp. 94.5J. Prakash, Ph.D. Thesis, JN Vyas University, Jodhpur (2001).6J. Prakash, P. K. Kasera and D. D. Chawan, Curr. Sci., 78:1185-1187 (2000).7D.N. Sen, Trop. Ecol. 7: 136-152 (1966).8S. Natesh and H. Y. Mohan Ram, J. Indian bot. Soc., 78: 13-23 (1999).9P.K. Kasera and J. Prakash, in: Recent Progress in MedicinalPlants: Plant Bioactives in Traditional Medicine, (edsMajumdar, D. K., Govil, J.N., Singh, V. K. and Sharma, R.K.),Vol. 9, pp. 403-423 (2005) (Studium Press LLC, USA).10UNDP, Rajasthan Red Listed Medicinal Plants, 2008, pp. 22-23, http://www. frlht.org.VOL. 76, NOS. 11–12 533