Taxonomic Notes and Medicinal Uses of Two Taxa of Orchids Cymbidium devonianum Lindl. ex Paxt., and Vanda testacea (Lindl.) Rchb. f., in Darjeeling Himalaya of West Bengal, India

The name Darjeeling is a corruption of dorje, the precious stone or ecclesiastical scepter, which is emblematic of the thunderbolt of Sakhra (Indra) and of ling, a place and it means therefore the place of the dorje, the mystic thunderbolt of the Lamaist religion, this being the name by which the Buddhist monastery, which once stood on Observatory Hill, was formerly known [1]. By another thought, the name Darjeeling is derived from the corruption of Lepcha name Darjyu-Lyang meaning abode of the god and goddesses. The present Darjeeling town was a small market of few mat roofed houses till 1886 with the name Gundri Bazar.


Introduction
The name Darjeeling is a corruption of dorje, the precious stone or ecclesiastical scepter, which is emblematic of the thunderbolt of Sakhra (Indra) and of ling, a place and it means therefore the place of the dorje, the mystic thunderbolt of the Lamaist religion, this being the name by which the Buddhist monastery, which once stood on Observatory Hill, was formerly known [1]. By another thought, the name Darjeeling is derived from the corruption of Lepcha name Darjyu-Lyang meaning abode of the god and goddesses. The present Darjeeling town was a small market of few mat roofed houses till 1886 with the name Gundri Bazar.
Darjeeling Himalaya falls under Singalila and Chola range, the Sub-Himalayan region of Mt. Kanchanjanga and it is the northernmost hilly districts of West Bengal, India and it is the part of Eastern Himalaya with different physiographic features. They lie between 27º31'05" and 26º27'10" North latitude and between 88º53'00" and 87º59'30" East longitude. The Northern boundary commences on the West at Phalut (3600m), the trijunction of the boundaries of Nepal, Sikkim and West Bengal. This boundary runs East from Phalut along the ridge descending to the Rammam river and proceeding East of that junction the boundary follows the Teesta upstream until its junction with the Rango Chu. From Phalut the Western boundary Nepal follows the Southward ridge until it joins the Mechi river upto the plains. On the South lies the district of West Dinajpur intercepted by the Mahananda river and the rest other part of the district is bounded by Bangladesh and the Jalpaiguri district. There are three Sub-Divisions in Darjeeling district viz., Darjeeling, Kurseong (hills) and Siliguri (plain) and three blocks come under Kalimpong district viz., Kalimpong, Algarah and Gorubathan (till June 2017) ( Figure 1). The altitudinal variations range from 120m at Siliguri to as high as 3660m at Sandakphu. white clay (Kamero mato), gritty red (Lishailo mato), brown clay (Chimte mato) and black (Kalo mato). The variations of the parent materials exert a strong influence on soil characterization rather than the climate and vegetation. Depending upon the various changes in altitudinal ranges, from 120-3660m, the temperature also changes in great extremities from warmer to colder. This change in fact, produces a bracing and congenial climate in the upper hills. The climate (rainfall, temperature and humidity) varies from one part of the district to another corresponding to the altitudes, and configurations of different areas. Elevation wise the district is unique in having three distinct climatic zones, namely

Journal of Complementary Medicine & Alternative Healthcare
Tropical, Temperate and Sub-Alpine. The district has five distinct climatic seasons, namely i. Spring, ii. Summer, iii. Monsoon/Rainy, iv. Autumn and v. Winter. The area receives rainfall throughout the year, except for a short spell during the winters. Maximum rainfall is brought about by the south-west monsoon, which picks up the moisture from across the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal and showers in the form of torrential rains. The district experiences highest rainfall between June to September and lowest between November to February, and moderate from March to May. The temperature of the Darjeeling Himalaya varies from place to place depending upon the altitudes. In the hilly regions the temperature (day and night) remains higher during rainy season than in the summer and spring while the range of fluctuation of temperature between the day and night is higher in the plains of Siliguri and terai region. Normally January is the coldest month and the daily temperature at Darjeeling, Sonada, Lava and Rachela often go down below 0 ͦ C. The plains are warm or hot throughout the year except a brief period during winters.
Generally rural economic condition of the Darjeeling Himalayan people is not very good and the principal livelihood of the common people of rural areas of the region had been traditional agriculture farming and at present, only 13% of the total land is utilized for agriculture purpose (Figure 3(A -F)). Very few people are engaged in commercial floriculture, horticulture, large cardamum and thysanolena latifolia plantation and floral nursery business in the region.

Journal of Complementary Medicine & Alternative Healthcare
Orchids exhibit incredible diversity in colour, shape, size, structure and fragrance of flowers and four different life forms viz., epiphytic, terrestrial, saprophytic and subterranean and are pretty admired among the professional and amateur Orchid lovers of the world and are important both botanically and commercially [2] and highly evolved among the monocotyledons. Orchids are used as ornamentals, food, aphrodisiac, religious beliefs and as medicine. Orchids comprise 25000 -30000 species distributed throughout the world [3]. In India, the Eastern Himalaya is the centre of Orchids, followed by Western Himalaya and the South Indian hills. The Khasia hills in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and the Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayas are richest in Orchid flora in India. Of the total Orchid species found in India nearly 70% found in North East India [4].
Some Orchid species reported to contain alkaloids, triter-penoids, flavonoids and stilbenoids. Recently, some important phytochemicals like orchinol, hircinol, cypripedin, jibantine, nidemin and loroglossin are extracted from Orchids [5]. Presence of these phytochemicals provides antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral activities etc. and some species used as potent inhibitor against gram positive and gram negative bacteria and some species were found to have strong antioxidative properties [6].
The medicinal importance of Orchids is known as early as 250-300 BC by Susruta and Vagbhata in ancient Sanskrit literature. Ashtavarga, a group of eight drugs employed in the preparation of tonics such as Chyawanprash etc.; four species Jivak (Malaxis muscifera), Rishbhak (Malaxis acuminata), Ridhi (Habenaria intermedia) and Vridhi (Habenaria edgeworthii) are used in its preparation [7].
Generic name origin from Greek word cymbi means a boat, a reference to the shape of the lip and species epithet is named after William, 6 th Duke of Devonshire, a great orchid collector and patron of horticulture.   Altitudinal range: 1300 -2400m [42]; 1300 -2330m [24,43].
Distribution within darjeeling himalaya: Lungshel, Lava, Sukiapokhari, Damsang forest, Toroyok, Takdah, Ramam, Baggonra.   natural habitat of both the taxa were epiphytic but Cymbidium devonianum frequently grown also in lithophytic habitat and flowering and fruiting of both the taxa were April to September months. Root paste of C. devonianum applied externally to treat boils and concentrated decoction of whole plant administered orally to cure cough and cold [8,9] and leaves of V. testacea warmed with Mustard oil and applied over swollen parts to reduce pain [10]. Leaves are used to cure cuts and wounds [11]. Leaves are used in fever; juice is introduced into the aural metus as a remedy for otitis media [12]. Root is used as antipyretic, laxative, liver and brain tonic, also used in bronchitis, dyspepsia, boils on scalp, fractures, hiccup, inflammations, lumbago, piles, secondary syphilis, diseases of the nervous system and abdomen, toothache, tremors [13].

Conclusion
Darjeeling Himalaya is the natural home of Orchid species but at present natural population of Orchid species of the region is depleting by means of deforestation, habitat destruction by multifarious anthropogenic activies like indiscriminate collection from habitat, frequent landslides, forest fire, harvesting of old host epiphytic trees for timber collection, many developmental schemes, grazing of goats and cattle etc. Therefore, Orchid sanctuaries and germplasm conservation centres should be established both in situ and ex situ conservation in the region and mass multiplication by means of micropropagation should emphasized to conserve and plantation in the suitable habitat in nature.