11/07/2021
Rhynchostylis retusa (foxtail orchid) is an orchid belonging to the Vanda alliance. The inflorescence is a pendant raceme, consisting of more than 100 pink-spotted white flowers. The plant has a short, stout, creeping stem, curved, fleshy, deeply channeled, keeled, retuse apically leaves and blooms on an axillary pendant to 24 inch long, racemose, densely flowered, cylindrical inflorescence that occurs in the winter and early spring.
* The plant is an epiphyte growing on tree trunks in open forests or at forest margins.
* It can be found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
* In India, the plant is mostly found in North-East, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Rhychostylis retusa is recognized as the state flower of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India as well the Uva Province of Sri Lanka.
MEDICINAL USES :-
• In India, various preparations of the plant were used against asthma, tuberculosis, cramp, epileptic spasms, vertigo, palpitations, kidney stone and menstrual disorder.
• The plant has also been used in Assam to treat wounds, cuts and bruises.
• The plant has been used as an emollient in India and Nepal.
• Under the name of rasna the root is used to treat rheumatism throughout the Indian subcontinent.
SIGNIFICANCE IN ASSAMESE CULTURE :-
• The species is the state flower of Assam, where it is popularly known as Kopou Ful, and is an integral part of a Bihu dancer's attire.
• It is famous for its use as an hair ornament worn by Assamese women during folk dance Bihu on the onset of spring.
• The plant is considered to be a symbol of love, fertility and merriment and for this reason, the inflorescence forms an essential element in the traditional Assamese marriage ceremony.