New insights into the morphology of Malaxis acuminata D Don

Correct botanical identity of important ayurvedic drugs is generally a matter of confusion as most of these are known by their local/trade names. This usually hampers dedicated conservation and domestication efforts as several of high in demand Ayurvedic herbs suffer due to unsustainable harvests. The situation is grimmer in such herbs which have widespread usage and demand. Malaxis acuminata D Don syn Microstylis wallichii Lindl is an important ingredient of an important polyherbal Ayurvedic formulation ‘Ashtavarga’. This species is variously known as Jivakah (as per the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India), Jivya, Dirghayu, Cirajivi (in Sanskrit), Jeevak (in Hindi and English), Jeevakam (in Malayalam and Tamil), Jeevakamu (in Telugu). These different names (for the same identity) generally lead to misidentification, unintentional adulteration etc with an adverse impact on its potency. The present studies have brought out several hitherto unknown morphological features like palisade ratio (0.84 ± 0.03), stomatal index (8.43 ± 0.80), stomata number (70.34 ± 2.28), stomata size (0.036 ± 0.0005mm ×0.03 ± 0.0006 mm) and type of stomata (anomocytic) of M acuminata that can be helpful in its correct identification. Visual characterization of the economic part of this species has also been attempted to differentiate between almost globular pseudobulb and rhizome.