Medicinal Flowers on Verge of Extinction

2011-04-01 11:3 From NTD Television

These Rhododendron flowers growing on the Himalayan hills are used for domestic and medicinal purposes. But due to growing urbanization, these flowers are on the verge of extinction.

[Jeet Ram, Local]:
"We pick these rhododendron flowers for domestic uses like making juice and chutney, and for other medicinal purpose. Other people come and pick the plants for commercial use. They are almost extinct. Once picked, they dry up very soon.”

Environmentalists are also worried over the sharp dip in the numbers of the red blooms.

They say expansion of cities and urbanization has led to commercial use of the mountain flowers.

[Prem Sagar, Environmentalist]:
"The people who are plucking it for the commercial use, they are not licensed. And the part of seed, which is supposed to come out from the petals and out of the ripeness of the flowers, we are not giving any proper time to get it ripe and to let it come on the ground, pick them and collect them and then to sell it.”

Rhododendron trees are found in the area of Dhauladhar range of mountains of Himachal Pradesh, and the adjoining area of northern Uttar Pradesh state.