Taxonomic Notes and Medicinal Uses of Two Taxa of Orchids Cymbidium devonianum Lindl. ex Paxt., and Vanda testacea (Lindl.) Rchb. f., in Darjeeling Himalaya of West Bengal, India

Abstract

The name Darjeeling is a corruption of dorje, the precious stone or ecclesiastical scepter, which is emblematic of the thunderbolt of Sakhra (Indra) and of ling, a place and it means therefore the place of the dorje, the mystic thunderbolt of the Lamaist religion, this being the name by which the Buddhist monastery, which once stood on Observatory Hill, was formerly known [1]. By another thought, the name Darjeeling is derived from the corruption of Lepcha name Darjyu-Lyang meaning abode of the god and goddesses. The present Darjeeling town was a small market of few mat roofed houses till 1886 with the name Gundri Bazar.