Malaxis acuminata — a small terrestrial orchid of the Himalayan belt, and the first of the eight Ashtavarga drugs of the classical rasayana literature. It is rare, it is endangered, and for most of a thousand years nobody has been entirely certain which plant the texts meant.

Her work on Jeevaka is the first of its kind in the world: a systematic study of the plant's identity, its classical descriptions, and its conservation.

The classical sources describe Jeevaka's qualities and uses, but the living plant behind the Sanskrit name has been contested for centuries — cited in the modern literature variously as Malaxis acuminata and Microstylis wallichii, with regional substitutes standing in wherever the true drug became scarce.

Settling that question matters twice over. Once for the integrity of the pharmacopoeia — a formulation is only as honest as the identity of its ingredients. And once for conservation — you cannot protect a plant you cannot name with confidence.

A summary of methodology, findings and publications will be published here as the work allows. Until then, her research profile is the record: