Diversity of ethno-medicinal plant: A case study of Bageshwar district Uttarakhand

Abstract

The Indian Himalayan region has a wide range of traditionally used medicinal plants. The study was conducted with the help of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique to document the ethno-medicinal use of plants from Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand. The present study of Bageshwar district shows distribution and traditional uses of the 144 ethno-medicinal plants, comprises of 64 families (62- Angiosperms, 2-Gymnospermes), different habitats such as herbs (56%), shrubs (22%), tress (15%), climbers (7%), which were further classify according to plants parts used such as: leafs (29%), root (27%), bark (11%), whole plant (9%), rhizomes (5% ), fruits (5% ), tubers/bulb (4%), seeds (4%), flowers and inflorescences (3%), resin/latex/ oil (2%), heart wood (1%). It was found that 144 plant species were used by local people for curing 49 diseases such as cough, fever, jaundice, arthritis, asthma, cuts and wounds etc.