Herbarium & Drug Repository

The Janaki Ammal Herbarium is a national referral facility, taken over in bequest from the Drug Research Laboratory, Jammu. The original collection comprises of a rich collection from all over India by col. Sir R. N. Chopra, Shri R. L. Bhadwar and Dr. S. L. Nayar, under a scheme financed by the Indian Council of Medical Research. These collections include specimens dated even prior to 1935 some of them even dating back to 19th Century. The preserved specimens in this herbarium include a large number of medicinal, aromatic and other economic plants from different parts of India and foreign countries, whereas the flora of North-West Himalayan region is very well represented.

The herbarium at present houses more than 21,500 specimens representing 3,254 species, 1,152 genera and 218 families of Angiosperms, Gymnosperms and Pteridophytes. This facility is used by scientists from academia & herbal drug Industry as ready reference for authentication of plants. It is recognized internationally and is registered in Index herbariorum at New York, U.S.A under the acronym RRLH. Currently the herbarium specimens are being digitalized and would be made available for S&T staff through intranet.

National Repository of Botanical Drugs at IIIM houses a total of 3,600 crude drug samples of authenticated parts of the plants, used as medicine, have been housed. The botanical drugs comprising, root, stem, leaves , flower, fruit, seed, root & rhizome, stem & leaves, fruit & seed, stem bark, root bark, heart wood, whole plant, whole plant without root, exudates, gum/resin, tuber and bulb, have been classified on the most scientific and modern lines.

Currently this referral facility is accessible to pharmaceutical industry, traders, medicinal practitioners, natural product chemists, students and academics.