Lush life

Planted
Kathmandu

Always suspected this, but then I have a definite tendency toward idealizing the wild and remote. Now a study confims it....

Fifty-five percent of plants - that's a lot of greens that aren't just goat fodder.

[KATHMANDU] Nepal may have more plants of medicinal importance than previously estimated, according to new research

The researchers found that up to 55 per cent of plants in the region had medicinal value compared to an average of 21–28 per cent described in the articles. The study — published online in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine last month (2 December) — was supplemented by four field trips to the western districts of Nepal in 2006–2008, to verify the data.

You may know the Hindu myth (story, legend, Purana - don't beat me up for using the wrong word, please) about Hanuman going to the Himalayas to fetch a special herbal medicine for an ailing Lord Ram. When he couldn't locate the exact plant, Hanuman (with his incredible strength) lifted the entire mountain and carried it back to south India where Lord Ram was in battle.

The story is usually pictured with Hanuman ferrying the green gumdrop mountain in one hand, like a waiter with a tray of iced tea. (In the other hand he holds his mace.)

As though getting to the plants and getting them down from the mountains weren't challenge enough, the socio-political situation, with all the work and transport stoppages, in addition to lack of electricity, should make it near-impossible to get these plants from their homes down to the plains and do anything with them. The Abode Of Snows will hold its medicinal secrets a bit longer.

Had a cute picture of Hanuman and the mountain, but they're not adding today. ? Another Himalayan Mystery.