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The present investigation deals with the ethnomedicinal plants of Kumaragiri Hills of Salem district, Tamilnadu. The indigenous knowledge of the village dwellers, the herbal medicine practitioners and other traditional healers and the native plants used for medicinal value were collected through questionnaire and personal interviewed during field trips. The study revealed some unknown medical uses of medicinal plants. The scientific name, family, vernacular name (Tamil), part used and traditional practice of 80 species, 65 genera and families are discussed here for the treatment of various ailments. The dicotyledons are represented by 73 species of 58 genera and 37 families while monocotyledons are represented by 7 species of 7 genera and 4 families. 91.25% dicotyledons and :8.75% monocotyledons were encountered .

The present study was undertaken during the year 2015 July to June

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The present investigation was designed to evaluate the antibacterial, antifungal properties and physiochemical screening of the various leaves and stem extracts of Andrographis lineata. Acetone, ethanol, methanol, petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of shade dried plant leaf and stem of A. lineata were tested for antibacterial, antifungal and phytochemical analysis. The antibacterial properties of various extracts of leaves and stem of A. lineata were assayed using the standard disc diffusion method, against five strains of bacterial species, namely, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Klebsiela pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Among different solvent extracts studied, the methanol leaf extract showed highest antibacterial activity against staphylococcus aureus (19.41 mm); followed by petroleum ether extract (18.30 mm). The highest inhibition zone observed for acetone extract of A. lineata leaves against P. vulgaris was 17.40 mm followed by ethanol extract (16.10 mm). The highest activity of chloroform extract against K. pneumoniae was 14.07 mm. Phytochemical investigation confirmed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, gums and mucilages, triterpenoids, steroids, glycosides, phenolic compounds and tannins. The acetone leaf extracts of A. lineata showed highest antifungal activity against Penicillium pinophilum (13.40 mm). The methanol leaf extracts showed maximum activity against Aspergillus niger (12.15 mm). The petroleum ether leaf extracts showed highest activity against P. pinophilum (12.11 mm). The ethanol leaf extracts showed significant activity against Aspergillus flavus (11.24 mm). The chloroform leaf extracts showed higher activity against A. niger (9.75 mm). The leaf extract showed more inhibitory effect than the stem extracts. The present research justifies the claimed uses of this herb in the traditional system of medicine to treat different diseases.

A b s t r a c t A r t i c l e I n f oThe present study was conducted to investigate the allelopathic potential of Plumbago zyelanica L. which showed inhibitory effects on seed germination, root length and shoot length of medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata Nees. Leaf, stem and root aqueous extracts of P. zeylanica at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% concentration were applied to determine their effect on seed germination and seedling growth of A. paniculata under laboratory conditions. Results notable that seed germination, root length, shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight of A. paniculata were significantly decreased by leaf, stem and root extracts compared with control treatments. Roots were large affected than shoots. Root extracts was more reduced than leaf and stem extract. These outcomes revealed that the inhibitory and stimulatory effect potentialities may be due to the presence of these allelochemicals like alkaloids, tannins, phenols, terpenoids and steroids etc. in the aqueous leaf, stem and root extracts of P. zeylanica from the present investigation.

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