Ayurveda has a very rich pharmacopia that stands unsurpassed even in these days of steadily progressing medical science of the west. The germ of the Ayurvedic system of medicine can be made out in the Vedas. The ancient sages who propounded and promoted Ayurveda had taken the trouble to examine and study the plants and drugs that came under there observation and include them in their materia medica; it is greatly to their credit that they were acquainted with a far greater number of medicinal plants than the natives of any other country. The knowledge of medicinal plants has accumulated in the course of centuries and it must have taken years of laborious study, great trouble and patient investigations to ascertain the characteristics of the plants in their natural situations and to arrive at accurate information regarding them. The knowledge of our forefathers on medicinal plants was wide and comprehensive.