Where to Find Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in India

India is home to an extraordinary wealth of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). With an estimated 8,000 species used across various Indian medicine systems, these plants grow in nearly every landscape the country has to offer – from misty Himalayan peaks to sun-baked Aravalli ridges. But their distribution isn’t random. It is shaped by altitude, rainfall, soil type, and forest cover, making certain regions true treasure troves of botanical healing power. Let’s explore exactly where these plants grow and why.

Why India is a global hub for medicinal and aromatic plants 🔗

India ranks among the top countries in the world for medicinal plant diversity. Of the country’s roughly 17,000 higher plant species, about 7,500 are known for medicinal uses – the highest proportion of medicinal-to-total flora of any country globally. These plants supply raw material for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Tibetan, and folk medicine traditions that have been practised for thousands of years. In fact, the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) estimates that around 25,000 effective plant-based formulations are used in folk medicine across rural India.

This diversity exists because India spans multiple biogeographic zones – from deserts and coastal plains to tropical forests and alpine meadows. Each zone supports a distinct community of medicinal species, shaped by local climate, soil, and ecology.

Major regions where medicinal and aromatic plants are found 🔗

Around 70% of India’s medicinal plants grow in tropical areas, concentrated across the Western and Eastern Ghats, the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, the Chotta Nagpur plateau, the Aravalli hills, and the Himalayas. The remaining 30% are distributed across temperate, alpine, desert, coastal, and aquatic habitats. Let’s look at each key region in detail.

The Western Ghats 🔗

The Western Ghats, running 1,600 km along India’s western coast through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, are one of the world’s eight “hottest” biodiversity hotspots. This mountain range intercepts the southwest monsoon, creating lush evergreen and semi-evergreen forests on its western slopes. These moisture-rich habitats support approximately 2,000 known medicinal plant species, many of them endemic to this region.

Notable medicinal plants from the Western Ghats include Garcinia indica (kokum), Myristica malabarica (wild nutmeg), and Vateria indica. The region also harbours species of the nutmeg family (Myristicaceae) and many important food and medicinal plants in the genus Syzygium. The high endemism here means that many of these species cannot be found anywhere else in the world, making conservation particularly urgent.

The Eastern Ghats 🔗

The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous chain of hills running along India’s eastern seaboard through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu. Though not as species-rich as their western counterpart, these hills support a significant number of medicinal plants, particularly in the dry and moist deciduous forests. Well-known endemic species here include Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood), which is listed under CITES Appendix II due to overexploitation, and Decalepis hamiltonii, a prized root used as a health tonic.

The Vindhya and Satpura ranges 🔗

The Vindhya hills, stretching across central India through Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Uttar Pradesh, form a natural divide between the Indo-Gangetic plain and the Deccan plateau. These ranges support extensive deciduous forests where seasonal wet and dry cycles influence plant chemistry.

Plants like Terminalia chebula (haritaki) and Terminalia bellirica (bibhitaki), two key ingredients of the Ayurvedic Triphala formulation, grow commonly in Vindhyan forests. Madhya Pradesh in particular has mega-biodiversity with 11 agro-climatic regions supporting a large variety of medicinal and aromatic crops including Ashwagandha, Isabgol, Safed Musli, and Lemon grass.

The Chotta Nagpur plateau 🔗

The Chotta Nagpur plateau, covering much of Jharkhand and parts of Odisha, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, sits on some of the oldest geological formations in India. The ancient, mineral-rich soils create unique growing conditions for medicinal plants. Species like Saraca asoca (ashoka tree) prefer the well-drained but moisture-retentive soils typical of this region. The plateau’s seasonal forests support a layered distribution of medicinal plants – from ground-level herbs to canopy-height trees.

However, this region faces significant pressure from mining activities, which threaten the natural habitat of many medicinal species. The Deccan Peninsula biogeographic zone, which includes Chotta Nagpur, holds the highest proportion of India’s medicinal plant diversity, with about 3,000 known species.

The Aravalli range 🔗

The Aravallis are one of the world’s oldest mountain systems, running through Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat. They create a transition zone between the arid Thar desert and the more humid regions to the east. This unique positioning supports plants specially adapted to semi-arid conditions.

Commiphora wightii (guggul), highly valued for its medicinal resin, is one of the most important species of this region, thriving in dry, rocky terrain. The semi-arid zone overall supports around 1,000 known medicinal plant species, including Caesalpinia bonduc and Balanites aegyptiaca.

The Himalayas 🔗

The Himalayan region is a vast repository of medicinal plants, with an estimated 1,740 species of MAPs. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) covers over 537,000 sq km and spans 12 states. Its enormous altitudinal range – from sub-tropical foothills to alpine meadows above 4,000 m – creates a remarkable diversity of micro-habitats.

The North-West and West Himalayas (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh) support approximately 1,700 medicinal species, including critically endangered plants like Saussurea costus (kuth), which is listed under CITES Appendix I, and Aconitum heterophyllum (atees), used to treat fever and digestive disorders. The Central and Eastern Himalayas harbour about 1,200 species, with notable plants like Nardostachys grandiflora (jatamansi) and Taxus wallichiana (Himalayan yew), a source of the anti-cancer compound taxol.

Even the harsh trans-Himalayan zone supports roughly 700 medicinal species, including Ephedra gerardiana and Hippophae rhamnoides (sea buckthorn), adapted to extreme cold and desert-like conditions.

North-East India: a biodiversity hotspot 🔗

North-East India, comprising eight states from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh, supports roughly 50% of India’s total biodiversity. The region holds an estimated 2,000 medicinal plant species and is recognised as one of the global biodiversity hotspots alongside the Western Ghats. Meghalaya alone has about 850 medicinal plants, with 377 species used by local communities for primary healthcare.

Important species found here include Aquilaria malaccensis (agarwood), listed under CITES Appendix II, and Panax pseudoginseng (ginseng), found exclusively in the Eastern Himalayas. The rich ethnobotanical traditions of the region’s 200+ tribal communities have preserved deep knowledge of these plant resources.

Types of medicinal and aromatic plants by habit 🔗

Medicinal and aromatic plants come in every growth form – not just herbs. According to the FRLHT database, a little over one-third of all known medicinal plants are trees, another equal portion are shrubs and climbers, and the remaining third are herbs. Some important medicinal species are even found among lower plant groups like algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, and ferns.

Trees 🔗

Medicinal trees like Azadirachta indica (neem), Terminalia arjuna (arjun), and Santalum album (sandalwood) form the canopy layer in deciduous forests across India. These species typically have deep root systems and store active compounds in bark, heartwood, and fruit.

Herbs 🔗

Herbs are the most commonly recognised category of medicinal plants. Species like Ocimum sanctum (tulsi), Withania somnifera (ashwagandha), and Bacopa monnieri (brahmi) are widely used in Indian medicine systems and are now cultivated commercially as well.

Shrubs and climbers 🔗

Shrubs such as Rauvolfia serpentina (sarpagandha), used for treating hypertension, and climbers like Tinospora cordifolia (giloy) grow across a range of habitats from tropical forests to home gardens. These are among the most traded medicinal plants in India.

Aromatic grasses and creepers 🔗

Aromatic grasses including lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii), and vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) are widely cultivated in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka for their essential oils, which have both medicinal and commercial applications.

How forest types influence distribution 🔗

The type of forest in any given region directly determines which medicinal plants grow there. Understanding this relationship is key to both conservation and cultivation efforts.

Dry deciduous forests 🔗

Dry deciduous forests experience extended dry seasons and support the largest number of medicinal plant species compared to any other forest type. This is partly because human communities have interacted more intensively with plants in these accessible forests over centuries, leading to greater ethnobotanical knowledge. Species like Butea monosperma (palash) and Diospyros melanoxylon (tendu) are typical of these forests.

Moist deciduous forests 🔗

Moist deciduous forests, found along the foothills of the Ghats and in central India, receive moderate rainfall and support plants that have adapted to store nutrients during favourable seasons. Many commercially important species like Terminalia spp. and Phyllanthus emblica (amla) grow abundantly here.

Tropical evergreen forests 🔗

Tropical evergreen forests, receiving over 2,500 mm of annual rainfall, are home to plants with delicate active compounds that require stable moisture and temperature conditions. Many aromatic plants and shade-loving medicinal species thrive in these forests, particularly in the southern Western Ghats and the North-East.

Temperate and alpine forests 🔗

Although fewer in number, the medicinal plants of temperate and alpine zones are often the most valuable. High-altitude stress leads to the production of concentrated bioactive compounds. Plants like Picrorhiza kurrooa (kutki) and Dactylorhiza hatagirea grow in alpine meadows above 3,000 m elevation and are among India’s most critically endangered medicinal species.

Desert and coastal habitats 🔗

Even India’s harshest environments support medicinal plants. The Thar Desert and Kutch region harbour about 500 known medicinal species, including Convolvulus microphyllus (shankhpushpi) and Citrullus colocynthis (bitter apple). These plants have evolved drought-tolerance mechanisms and concentrated active compounds.

The coastal zone, including mangrove habitats along both the eastern and western seaboards, supports another 500 or so medicinal species. Rhizophora mucronata and Avicennia marina are mangrove species with known medicinal properties. Meanwhile, the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands host about 1,000 medicinal plant species including Calophyllum inophyllum, widely used in traditional medicine.

Conservation challenges and threats 🔗

India’s medicinal plant wealth faces serious threats. About 90% of the raw material used by India’s herbal industry is still harvested from the wild, and more than 70% of these collections involve destructive methods like uprooting, debarking, or harvesting entire plants. Rapid assessments suggest that around 1,000 medicinal species may be under varying degrees of threat across Indian ecosystems.

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), along with state-level boards, has been working on both in-situ conservation through Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs) and ex-situ conservation through gene banks and cultivation programmes. India hosts about 15,000 medicinal plant species in total, and the Botanical Survey of India has documented over 5,250 species with recorded folk medicinal uses.

The key plant families that contain the highest number of medicinal species in India are Asteraceae (the largest, with 419 species), followed by Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, and Poaceae.

The way forward: cultivation and sustainable use 🔗

As demand for herbal products grows – India’s medicinal plant trade is worth roughly US $1 billion annually – cultivation of MAPs has become essential. Several states, particularly Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and those in the North-East, are developing agro-technology packages for commercially important species.

Agroforestry offers a promising approach: shade-tolerant medicinal plants can be grown as lower strata in multi-strata systems, and short-cycle medicinal crops can be intercropped with existing tree plantations. However, challenges remain, including long gestation periods, uncertain market access, low prices compared to food crops, and a complex permit system for farmers.

For India’s medicinal plant heritage to survive and flourish, a combination of habitat protection, sustainable wild harvesting, systematic cultivation, and stronger market linkages will be needed.

What do you think? Given that most medicinal plants still come from wild harvesting, can India scale up cultivation fast enough to reduce pressure on natural habitats? And what role can traditional community knowledge play in guiding modern conservation strategies?

References

1. https://envis.frlht.org/overview.htm
2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1562365/
3. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342/
4. https://www.bioinfopublication.org/include/download.php?id=BIA0004861
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1470160X18301882
6. https://www.journalijdr.com/medicinal-and-aromatic-plants-north-east-india
7. https://iaspoint.com/conservation-of-medicinal-and-aromatic-plants-in-india/