Srinagar, May 14 -- At the northern tip of Kashmir, where snow buries roads and phone signals vanish, Gurez Valley disappears from the map each winter. For six months, it survives in near-total isolation. Yet within this silence, something extraordinary thrives: a living pharmacy of wild medicinal plants.

Gurez is home to more than 570 species of medicinal and aromatic plants. From fevers and infections to asthma and anxiety, the people here have learned to heal themselves using what grows on their hillsides.

It's a tradition as old as the valley itself, and one that may hold promise far beyond its borders.

"We trust these plants more than pills," said an elderly villager from Dawar, the main settlement. "They've treated our families f...