Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. don), locally known as ‘Angulagpa’ in Ladakh, is a terrestrial orchid found in subalpine to the alpine region, at an elevation ranging between 2500 and 5000 mean sea level. With palmately lobed rhizome and lanceolate leaves having a sheathing leaf base, it bears pink flowers with purple-colored notches and a curved spur. Although Angulaqpa is widely been used in modern system of medicine but this plant has great application in in Amchi System of Medicine (Sowarigpa) to cure many disorders of the digestive, reproductive, circulatory, nervous, respiratory, and skeletal systems. Its use as a dietary supplement was found to be beneficial in increasing testosterone levels, resulting in improve sexual desire and arousal. The unsustainable and overexploitation of this medicinally important herb has resulted in the dwindling of its populations in the wild. Consequently, it’s been categorized as critically endangered plant species. As the root of this plant is used for medicinal purposes, the whole plant is uprooted, which pose a serious issue of its survival. Moreover, the locals alleged, that foreigners often visit different parts of Ladakh and used to takeout germplasm of this medicinally important plant.
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