Filago hurdwarica (Wall. ex DC.) Wagenitz: A Small Weed Species Found in High Altitude

Filago hurdwarica is a small weed species of the family Asteraceae, widely distributed in many parts of the world. Some dominant species of the genus Filago have been reported from Pakistan, India, Iran, and Afghanistan. In this research, about 60 relevant published articles were reviewed to explore the floral and biological characteristics of the Filago species, with the aim to provide a comprehensive and updated overview of phytochemical composition and morphological features. According to the results, 31 phytochemical compounds, such as phenols, terpenes, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, reducing sugars, vitexin cyclitols, inositol, and other structural compounds in the crude extract in their fraction in different polar and non-polar solvents, have been identified so far. This study confirmed that F. hurdwarica contains several phytochemically and pharmacologically active compounds, which were detected and isolated via phytochemistry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, with antihyperlipidemic, enzymatic, toxicity, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic activities, with phytoclimatic study. The results showed that F. hurdwarica has been used previously as an indicator plant species for the discovery of mining and determination of manganese in the root and shoot zone, along with ethnobotanical uses for some diseases. The results conclude that these pharmacological and biological studies are still not enough for the exploration of the medical and ethnobotanical value, so extra detailed logical explorations are required to study bioactive compounds and to discover medicinal value and its industrial applications with more biochemical findings.

Cite this article as: Abidullah, S., Majeed, M., & Anwar, S. (2026). Filago hurdwarica (Wall. ex DC.) Wagenitz: A small weed species found in high altitude. Forestist, 76, 0036, doi: 10.5152/ forestist.2026.25036.