Ethno-botanical survey for wild plants in fringe villages around Shimla Water Catchment Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Abstract:In this study an ethno-botanical survey was carried out in the fringe villages located at the periphery of Shimla Water Catchment Sanctuary. As the sanctuary area is not completely fenced the villagers have an access inside the sanctuary. An attempt was made to prepare a document of important flora and information from local community about their ethnic uses. The indigenous knowledge of local traditional uses was collected by personal interviews during field trips. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged by family name, vernacular name, part use, ethno-botanical remedies and uses. Plants having uses in medicine, ornamental, fodder and many other were studied. The study was entirely focused on revealing the medicinal potential possessed by the plants growing wild in this area and their sustainability for the betterment of mankind.

Ethnobotanical knowledge among the semi-pastoral Gujjar tribe in the high altitude (Adhwari’s) of Churah subdivision, district Chamba, Western Himalaya

“…ex Hook.f.) Lacaita RosaceaeEdibleFruits are edible [82, 55] Fragaria vesca L.RosaceaeEdibleFruits are edible [52] Gagea lutea (L.) Ker Gawl.LiliaceaeEdibleDried tubers used as spice [108] Impatiens spp.BalsaminaceaeFodderFodder, the colour obtained is used as nail paint [100, 78] Jasminum humile L.OleaceaeMedicinalPowdered roots used as anthelmintic, diuretic, skin diseases, headache, mouth rash, ringworm [109, 77, 110] Juglans regia L.JuglandaceaeEdible, householdFruit edible, fuel, timber, fruit tonic taken for back pain [103, 94, 89, 53] Jurinea macrocephala DC. #AsteraceaeHouseholdRoots are used during religious ceremonies for incense, root decoction is given once per day to treat cold and cough [111] Malva neglecta Wallr.MalvaceaeEdibleA cough, cold, malaria, kidney disorders and cooked as a vegetable [23, 69, 112]* Morchella esculenta (L.: Fr.)…”

Observations on traditional usage of ethnomedicinal plants in humans and animals of Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh in North-Western Himalaya, India

“…Anti-pyretic, cooling, demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, purgative, cure sore throat, cough, cold, headache, tonsils, asthma, piles, constipation and skin diseases (Chauhan, 1999;Choudhary et al, 2005;Sharma and Sood, 2013;Kayani et al, 2014) Glucoside methyl salicylate, alkaloid violin, glycoside quercitin and saponins (Dey, 1980) Vitex negundo L., Lamiaceae Pain killer, appetizer, treat flatulence, fever, rheumatic pain, pyorrhea, gum inflammation, headache, tetanus, mastitis, scorpion and snake bite (Singh and Kumar, 2000;Kumar and Choyal, 2013;Sehgal and Sood, 2013;Rana and Masoodi, 2014;Sharma et al, 2014b;Sharma et al, 2015;Khattak et al, 2015;Rehman et al, 2015) Protocatechuic acid, oleanolic acid, flavonoids, β-sitosterol and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (Vishwanathan and Basavaraju, 2010) Zanthoxylum armatum DC. * # , Rutaceae Carminative, stomachic, anthelmintic, antiseptic, disinfectant, deodorant, antifungal, cure fever, mouth ulcers, dyspepsia, scabies, cholera, toothache and indigestion (Manandhar, 1995;Chauhan, 1999;Singh and Kumar, 2000;Sood et al, 2009;Kumar and Choyal, 2013;Sehgal and Sood, 2013) Alkaloids, sterols, phenolics, lignin, coumarins, terpenoids, flavonoids, glycosides and benzenoides *Commercially exploited non-timber forest product's species in Himachal Pradesh, India.…”

“…Polygonaceae Dysentery, heart problems, fever, menstruation irregularities, leucorrhoea, ulcer, cold, fever, headache, joint pain, indigestion, stomach pain and eye wound (Matin et al, 2001;Uniyal et al, 2006;Gairola et al, 2014;Kayani et al, 2015) Cardiac glycosides, saponin glycosides, alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, steroids and terpenoids Persicaria nepalensis (Meisn. ), Miyabe Polygonaceae Abortive, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, hypotensive, antipyretic, fungitoxic, cure cold, influenza, swelling, hemorrhoids, diarrhea and rheumatism (Alves et al, 2000;Maria et al, 2001) Tannins, phenols, flavonoids and steroids (Garg et al, 2011) Persicaria vivipara (L.) Ronse Decr., Polygonaceae Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiulcer, antioxidant, antitumor, antiarthritic, cure bronchitis, piles, wounds, ulcers, vomiting and biliousness (Hui et al, 2013;Chang et al, 2014) Volatile oil, flavonoids, flavone glycosides, gallic acid, saponins and tannins (Chang et al, 2014) Plantago lanceolata L., Plantaginaceae Febrifuge, demulcent, treat diarrhea, dysentery, piles, constipation, whooping cough, bronchitis, neck rashes, sores, boils, blisters, jaundice and inflammation (Singh and Kumar, 2000;Prajapati et al, 2003;Kayani et al, 2014;Rana and Masoodi, 2014;Abbasi et al, 2015) Iridoid glucoside aucubin, phenylpropanoid glycoside verbascoside and tannins (Stewart, 1996).…”

Therapeutic Uses of Wild Plants by Rural Inhabitants of Maraog Region in District Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

“…These plants were highly recommended by the informants for treating different human diseases. Some plant species, found in the study area, are well-known for their medicinal properties for instance, Artemisia vestita, Ajuga parviflora, Bergenia ciliata, Cannabis sativa, Cynodon dactylon, Delphinium denudatum, Foeniculum vulgare, Taraxacum officinale and Urtica dioica [20,26,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…They have little or no knowledge of plants, not even about the species of plants found in their surroundings. Only a few old people are left to pass on their knowledge to the next generation, but it has not been very effective [19,[33][34][35][36][37]. The knowledge of medicinal plants of the Himalayan region has been reduced due to the absence of proper documentation and knowledge in the present-day generation [19,42,[61][62][63][64].…”