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Bhandary MJ, Chandrashekar KR. 2014. Diversity and use of ethnomedicinal plants in coastal Karnataka, India. Biodiversitas 15: 89-93. A study was undertaken in Coastal Karnataka, a culturally and floristically diverse region between the Western Ghats and the Arabian sea in India, to document the diversity and uses of ethnomedicinal plants of the area. This study resulted in the documentation of ethnomedicinal uses of 342 species of plants belonging to 34 families. The dominant families of ethnomedicinal plants were: Fabaceae (38 species), Euphorbiaceae (22 species), Rubiaceae (11 species), Acanthaceae, Asteraceae, Apocynaceae and Rutaceae (10 species each). Among the plants used, 30% are herbs, 27% trees, 25% climbers and 18% shrubs.

Abstract. MJ Bhandary. 2020. Alstonia scholaris in the ethnomedicinal and religious tradition of Coastal Karnataka, India. Biodiversitas 21: 1569-1577. The tribal and non-tribal indigenous communities of coastal districts of Karnataka use Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. for the treatment of various ailments such as fever, asthma, leucorrhea, eczema, indigestion and also to heal spider bites. An annual health-related ritual of mass drinking of a bitter juice or decoction of the stem bark of this tree on the new moon (amavasya) day of ‘aati’ month of the traditional ‘tulu’ calendar coinciding with the rainy monsoon season is popularly followed in the study area, especially by the rural families. The underlying belief is that this drink keeps away all ailments and ensures wellbeing. The recorded ethnomedicinal uses and the traditional practice of mass drinking of the bitter juice appear to be scientifically meaningful when interpreted on the background of the ayurvedic uses and the wide range of curative properties ascribed to this plant, many of which have been confirmed by reported pharmaco-chemical studies. Studies have also indicated that the toxicity of the bark extract was minimum during monsoon season and the concentration of active principle was maximum in the bark juice collected on the particular new moon day. This further justifies the timing of the described annual medicine drinking event. In addition, some Tulu language-speaking indigenous communities consider this tree as the reincarnation of a mythological demon called Bali and worship its branch during the festival days of Deepavali, in honor of him. Thus, A. scholaris emerges as a plant of great ethnobotanical significance in the study area.

Abstract. Bhandary JM. 2021. Diversity of plants used for non-medicinal purposes by the traditional communities of Coastal Karnataka, India. Asian J Ethnobiol 4: 106-114. The Coastal Karnataka region of India, comprising of two districts called Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, is ethnobotanically prosperous owing to its floristic and cultural diversity. This is justified because many ethnobotanical studies have been reported from this area. However, all these studies are concerned only with documentation of traditional knowledge and medicinal plant diversity; the various non-medicinal uses of plants have not received any scientific attention so far. Therefore, this study was undertaken to document the diversity of plants used for edible, piscicidal, and fodder purposes and make different household materials. Plant specimens and associated traditional information were gathered from the knowledgeable elders from other areas’ different indigenous tribal and non-tribal communities. Prior-informed, open-ended interviews, and discussions were conducted with 32 purposively chosen informants in the field during different seasons of the study period. The botanical identity of the plants mentioned as applicable by informants was confirmed with the help of local flora, and enumeration of plant species was done based on the user category. A total of 125 species of angiosperm plants used for non-medicinal purposes by different traditional and tribal communities were documented during the present study. Among them, 116 species were used for any of the above four studied purposes, and only nine species were used for two different purposes. As many as 76 species were used for edible purposes, 18 species as piscicides, 21 species as fodder plants, and 19 species used to make baskets, mats, and other traditional artifacts used in daily lives. This study confirmed that the traditional communities of the study locality have considerable traditional knowledge about non-medicinal uses of local plants. However, the practical use of wild plants for the studied traditional purposes has gradually decreased due to a lack of interest in the newer generation and the availability of modern alternatives.