Family: Buddleiaceae
Synonyms: Buddleja asiatica Buddleja arfakensis, Buddleja discolor, Buddleja neemda
Common Name: White Dog Tail, White Butterfly  bush, Chinese White Butterfly bush.
Local Name: Neemda (नीमदा). 

Neemda is an evergreen,1to 3 m tall shrub of Western Himalayas bearing flowers with  a pleasant  odour. It is commonly seen growing upto an altitude of 1500m  along roadsides, pathways, shrublands and ravines on open slopes. Neemda requires a well  drained  sunny  habitat with loamy soil for optimum growth. It can easily propogate with seeds or cuttings. Plant being dioecious. must have male and female plants  grown nearby if seeds are  required. Neemda grows very fast and has an extensive root support, so it is very helpful in preventing soil erosion. It is usually grown as second growth in  sandy river banks, landslips and deserted village sites where  it helps in  preventing soil erosion.

All the parts of Neemda the buds, leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, bark, and wood have medicinal value and used In traditional medicine to cure a wide spectrum of diseases. Leaves and flower of this plant are taken as food supplement to harness its rich medicinal value. Flowers are an excellant addition to a number of traditional dishes like pakoras,kachouri, parantha, kachru etc. Flowers having pleasant  fragrance can also be used as garnishing agent in variety of food preparation.They can be also be cooked in omlatte. Flowers and leaves are also used as an addition to local alcoholic drinks due to their medicinal and aromatic value.

It is considered as a sacred plant by some local communities and use it   during various religious ceremonies.Neemda is iusually harvested from wild habitat as a source of food,fodder,fuel and medicine for local personal uses. Sometime it is grown as an ornamental in garden, home and temples. It can also be cultivated along roadside for its beautiful fragrant flowes. Flowers being fragrant make this plant  a very good butterfly attractant.

Neemda Plant:

Plant is evergreen ,1-3 m tall shrubs,

Branches,underside of leaves and inflorecence  covered with a dense grey felt of star-shaped hairs.

Leaves opposite,lanceolate, 6-15cm long, minutely toothed and narrowed at the base, they are glabrous and dark green above, grey or white -tomentose  beneath. 

Flowers white, fragrant,5-6mm across,4-merous, crowded in 1-15cm long, terminal or  axillary, solitary or panicled spikes. Corolla tube at least twice as long as the densely hairy calyx. 

Capsules ellipsoid,glabrous,5 mm long.

Neemda  leaves can be collected round the year,  it is in flowering in  summers months, although some cultivars flower later up to early winters.

Edible Uses:

Neemda is profuse in medicinal  value. Its leaves  can be taken as a herbal tea both fresh and dried. Flowers both fresh and dried are used to prepare various food items like pakoras, pakora curry,  Kachru etc. A local alcoholic drink of its leaves with rice called as Neemda Lugadi  in local dielect  is also prepared sometime for local personal uses as follow.

Pakoras:

Ingredients:

Neemda flowers  fresh or dried , 250 g; besan (black gram flour) or corn flour,1/2 kg; mustard oil, 10-12 table spoon; 1 cup fresh coriander plus curry and mint leaves (chopped), 5-6 green chilies, ½ table spoon turmeric powder, 2-3 medium sized chopped onions, 2-3 medium sized finely chopped potato and salt according to taste.

Method:

Make a paste of flowers, chopped potatoes, basen and spices listed above. Mix well and make small ball of this paste. Put mustard oil in a fry pan and give these balls a deep fry. Repeat this process till whole paste is over. Pakoras are now ready to serve. Serve these hot with chutney or tomato  ketchup.

Kachru or sosaru:

Kachru is a traditional dish of Western Himalaya usually taken as a morning breakfast or evening snack with tea / chutney or tomato ketchup.

Ingredients:

For preparing a kachru, ingredients required are 250 g fresh or dried Neemda flowers , 1/2 kg besan (black gram powder) or corn flour. 1 cup amount fresh coriander leaves/ curry leaves/ mint leaves,1/2 table spoon ajwain, 3-5 green chillies, ½ table spoon turmeric powder, 2-3 chopped onions and salt according to taste

Method:

Make a paste of flowers, besan or corn flour and spices. Heat some oil on a flat heating pan. Put this paste over a pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes then kachru will be ready. Repeat the process till whole paste is over and serve hot with chutney/ tea or tomato ketchup.

Herbal Neemda Tea:

Ingredients:

Neemda  leaves, 6-8; water, 2 cup amount; sugar/honey/natural sweetner/jeggery, 2 table spoons; lemon juice, 2 tea spoons.

Method:

Mince leaves and boil with water. Add sugar or some natural sweetner to it and simmer in low flame for 10 minutes. Strain into tea cups. Add lemon juice to each and serve.

Local alcoholic drink Neemda Lugadi 

Ingredients:

Rice, 5 cup amount; yeast,25g; Neemda leaves, 250-300g.

Method:

Cook 5 cups of rice.  Spread these well for a while in a sheet then add

25gms of  yeast and Neemda leaves  to it.  Mix  all ingredients well and transfer  to a air tight container. Store this container in a closed place for atleast  6 days. Now add to it  2lit. of water and mix well. Store  it for  another 2-5 days in a closed or shaded place. Strain the liquid lugadi in a ceramic bottle or jar. Now Neemda lugadi is ready to use.

Seek professional advice before treating this plant medicinally.

Medicinal uses:

Plant (mainly leaves and flowers)  is locally used in the form of decoction  to cure common cold cough and skin diaeases. Recent studies shows that this plant is rich in antioxidents and shows  antibacterial, antifungal , hypotensive and cytotoxic activities so   useful to  treat wide spectrum of ailments such as fever, cough, cold, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, skin diseases, and even cancer. Young leaves are crushed with a piece of turmeric which is applied externally to cure scabies ¹.Neemda  seeds are used externally to treat skin diseases. It has been used for skin complaints ²  and as an abortifacient ³. A paste of its roots is used as a tonic when mixed with rice water⁴ . This plant is also used  as a cure for loss of weight ⁵. Roots and leaves of this plant are employed to treat head tumor ⁶. A fusion of roots is used in the treatment of malaria ⁷.  Essential oil of the 8leaves has in-vitro antifungal activities  ⁸. The flowers are used in the treatment of cystitis and cold ⁹  and to treat edema ¹⁰. 

Chemical consequent: The flowers of Buddeja asiaficawer found to contain Hes- peritin and Hesperitin its glycoside -7 – O – rutinoside. Hesperitin -7 – O – rutinoside can act as a strong antioxi- dant drug ¹. The essential oil contains sabinene, which has sedative properties. Sabinene also helps reduce pain and inflammation.

Other Uses; 

Green foliage of this plant are used as  fodder and left over  hard branches are dried to be used as fuel. Walking sticks are also prepared from this plant which are used by aged people and saints. Dried stem and leaves are burn to repell mosquitoes.  Neemda is considered a sacred plant and its flower laden branches are used in various religious ceremonies.This plant is  also grown as an ornamental along roadside and in gardens.

References:

1. A.Ravindarraj, Dr.A.John Merina  (2015):  Antioxidant activity of Buddleja asiatica Volume : 5   ISSN – 2249-555X 
2. Pande P, Tiwari L, Pande H (2007). Ethnoveterinary plants of Uttaranchal-A review. Ind. J. Trad. Knowl. 6: 444-458. 
3. Reis AS, Von S (1973). Drugs and Foods from Little-k
4. Nepal HM (1970). Medicinal Plants of Nepal. Ministry of Forests, KathMandu, pp. 105-106. 
5. Gage AT (1904). The vegetation of the district of Minbu in upper Burma. Records of the Botanical Survey of India 3: 141-143. 
6. Guerrero LA (1921). Medicinal uses of Philippine plants. Philippines  Bureau Forest. Bull. 22: 149-246. 
7. Hartwell J (1970). Plants used against cancer. Lloydia, 33: 87-94. 
8. Reis AS, Von S (1973). Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 221-223. 
9. Gag SC, Dengre SL (1992). Composition of the essential oil from the leaves of Buddleja asiatica Lour. Flavour Fragr. J. 7: 125-127. 
10. Lee S, Xiao C, Pei S (2008). Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants at periodic markets of Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan Province, SW China. J. Ethnopharmacol. 117: 362-377. 
11. Zheng X, Xing F (2009). Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants around Mt. Yinggeling, Hainan Island, China. J. Ethnopharmacol. 124: 197-210.