Communications in Plant Sciences (Aug 2016)
Studies on ethno medicinal plant diversity in an urban area – a case study
Abstract
The present study deals with the Ethno-medicinal plants used by the local communities in Santragachhi area, under Howrah Municipal Corporation, ward no. 38, District Howrah, West Bengal, India. An ethno medicinal survey was carried out the use of medicinal plants in Santragachi region. The information was gathered from the local community people using an integrated approach botanical collections, group discussion and interview with questionnaire during 2012-2013. Among 50 informants interviewed, 10 were tribal practitioners. A total of 53 genera and 33 families are documented. In most of case, fresh parts of the plants were used for the preparation of medicine. The results further revealed that the natives of this area are not very much practiced in using the medicinal plants in the treatment of human illness. The study area is delimited by number of wetlands and the people collect the aquatic plants by their habitual knowledge as food resources. But due to expansion of city area, road construction causes loss of plant diversity and random exploitation of natural resources many valuable medicinal plants are at the stage of extinction. The present study documented ethno medicinal plants were mostly used for treatment of various diseases.
