Ethnomedicinal botany of the Apatani in the Eastern Himalayan region of India

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

Chandra Prakash Kala¹ 

[1] GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttaranchal- 263 643, India

关键词: ethnomedicinal plants;    indigenous uses;    Eastern Himalaya;    Arunachal Pradesh;    Apatani tribe;   

Others  :  866044
DOI  :  10.1186/1746-4269-1-11

 received in 2005-09-21, accepted in 2005-11-16,  发布年份 2005

【 摘 要 】

This paper investigates the wealth of medicinal plants used by the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Apatani have traditionally settled in seven villages in the Ziro valley of Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayan region of India. The present study has resulted in the documentation of 158 medicinal plant species used by the Apatani group of villages. These medicinal plant species were distributed across 73 families and 124 genera. Asteraceae was the most dominant family (19 species, 11 genera) of medicinal plants, followed by Zingiberaceae, Solanaceae, Lamiaceae and Araceae. For curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (80%) than the belowground plant parts in the Apatani group of villages. Of the aboveground plant parts, leaf was used in the majority of cases (56 species), followed by fruit. Different belowground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were used by Apatani as a medicine. About 52 types of ailments were cured by using these 158 medicinal plant species. The results of this study are further discussed in the changing socio-economic contexts.

【 授权许可】

   
2005 Kala; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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