Chlorophytum borivilianum

Botanical Description

Chlorophytum borivilianum is an evergreen perennial plant growing from a tuberous rootstock; it produces a clump of basal leaves and flowering stems that can be up to 45cm tall[ 372 Title Flowers of India Publication Author Website http://www.flowersofindia.net/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars. ]. This is one of several Chlorophytum species that are collectively known as ‘safed musli’ and are harvested in large quantities from the wild in India for their tubers, which are reputed to have a number of medicinal properties, particularly as a tonic. They are widely traded. This is one of the two main species harvested (the other is Chlorophytum tuberosum), though several other species are also used. The plant is also harvested for local use as a food and a medicine[ 2022 Title Indian Medicinal Plants; An Illustrated Dictionary Publication Author Khare C.P. (Ed.) Publisher Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg Year 2007 ISBN 978-0-387-70637-5 Description ]. This species is now being cultivated, and there is a heavy demand for organically grown safed musli with a high saponin content in both national and international market[ 646 Title New Crops FactSheets Publication Author Website http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/default.html Publisher Purdue University Year 0 ISBN Description A website dedicated to giving information on potential new agricultural crops. ]. Although Indian forests are rich in safed moosli demand is increasing rapidly in Indian and international drug markets[ 372 Title Flowers of India Publication Author Website http://www.flowersofindia.net/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars. ]. The species was first described from India in 1954, but by 1988 the Botanical Survey of India had assigned it to the IUCN category Rare (according to criteria in operation at that time) due to overexploitation. The plant is currently classified as 'Critically Endangered' in the wild in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The plant is now cultivated for medicinal use, which has helped to reduce the collection of wild plant(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].