Biodiversity of Ethnomedicinal plants used by the Tribal community in Bhadrachalam agency area, Khammam district, T.S.

Abstract

Ethnobotanical research can provide a wealth of information regarding both past and present relationships between plants and the traditional societies. The study area was investigated to get information from local tribal people having practical knowledge of medicinal plants. The main aim of the present study is to identify plants collected for medicinal purposes by the tribal people of Bhadrachalam agency areas located in Khammam district of Telangana, India. The field surveys were conducted between June 2015 and February 2017. The information of ethnomedicinal plants was collected through interviews among the tribal people. The collected data was analyzed through Informants’ consensus factor (ICF) and Fidelity level index (FL) methods. A total of 50 species of plants distributed in 47 genera belonging to 35 families were identified as commonly used ethnomedicinal plants by the tribal people of study area for the treatment of various ailments. It is extremely important to save this traditional knowledge of biological heritage and explore new resources and to conserve such medicinal plants for future use.