NTFP Sustainable Harvesting
Lekh Pakhanved
Scientific Name: Bergenia purpurascens (Hook.f. & Thomson) Engl.
Family: Saxifragaceae
Nepali Name: लेख पाखनभेद (Lekh Pakhanved)
English Name: Purple Bergenia
It is a robust, perennial, stemless herb with large, fleshy leaves and a thick, creeping rhizome. Its underground rhizome is thick, horizontal, woody, and brown, with astringent properties. The leaves are obovate to rounded, leathery, glossy, with crenate margins, often tinged with red or purple, especially in winter. It produces showy, bell-shaped flowersranging from pink to deep purple on a flowering stalk. Flowering occurs in May-July (Jestha-Shrawan).
