Medicinal plants used by ethnic group Thottianaickans of Semmalai hills (reserved forest), Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

India harbours about 15% (3000-3500) out of 20,000 medicinal plants of the world. About 90 % of these are found growing wild in different climatic regions of the country. The tribal and rural populations of India are, to a large extent, dependent on medicinal plants for not only meeting their healthcare needs by self-medications, but also for their livestock. This has attracted the attention of several botanists, and there has been a spurt of reports on ethnomedicine. Medicinal plant resources of Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu records 240 species of common medicinal plant belonging to 102 families. The investigation made on ethnomedicinal plant used by the ethnic group Valaiyans of Vellimalai hills (reserved forest), TamilNadu revealed that 84 angiospermic plant species belonging to 40 families in the treatment of various ailments. An attempt has been made to study the ethnomedicinal practices of the Thottianaickans of Semmalai hills (reserved forest) Thiruchirapali district. The survey was carried out for 10 months from August 2002 to May 2003.