"This book is so to say an encyclopaedia of medicinal plants of India. The present works by the scientists of repute cover as to document latest names, chromosome numbers, English, Sanskrit and vernacular names of all states, trade names, traditional uses including ethnic, Ayurvedic, Homoeopathy, Siddha, Unani and modern uses. It also covers phytography, chemistry, adulterants, etc.

"This profusely illustrated book will be immensely useful to researchers, scientists, pharmacologists, pharmacists, biochemists, pharmaceutical organisations, medical men, planners, policy makers, administrators and even commoners." (jacket)

From the Preamble: "Quite a number of books in English and other languages have already been published. So, it will not be wrong to state that there is no dearth of literature on medicinal botany of plants found in India. But, we felt that there is not a single book which contains all-botanical, ecological, chemical and medicinal information regarding the same plant species. We have endeavoured to fill up this blank by bringing out this work entitled a Lexicon of Medicinal Plants in India. We have tried to collect the following data regarding each species: (i) Botanical name of the species, its family, common synonyms and chromosome number as available; (ii) English and vernacular names of the species; (iii) Trade name, if any; (iv) Traditional uses; (v) Modern uses, (vi) Brief phytography for easy identification; (vii) Phenology; (viii) Distribution in India and neighbouring countries; (ix) Ecology and cultivation; (x) Chemical contents of the species; (xi) Adulterant, if any; and (xii) Additional relevant information, including medicinal/poisonous uses of the species in other countries."