Samudra S.M and Shinde H.P*
India is rich in biodiversity and considered to be a storehouse of medicinal plants. The diversity of indigenous and endemic medicinal plants has contributed a lot to the practice of herbal/traditional medicines by local tribal communities. It has been observed that valuable information about the diverse ethnomedicinal plantspecieslocated at the particular area is accumulated traditionally at the local herbal healers or medicine men “Vaidu” by whom; this valuable information is hardly shared with others, due to which the vast treasure of ethnomedicinal knowledge is eroding gradually, also triggered by modernization, rapid socioeconomic changes etc. As a part of participatory efforts towards creating awareness about medicinal utilities of plants and need of conservation; a periodic survey was carried out in and around Daund tehsil to record the diversity of ethnomedical plant species along with their medicinal utilities. Total 74 plant species were identified and enlisted for their medicinal values to cure several diseases like gynaecological ailments, asthma, cold, cough, dysentery, jaundice, piles, skin diseases etc. including plant species like Aegle marmelos, Boerhavia diffusa, Caralluma adscendens var. fimbriata, Chrozophora rottlerin, Citrulus colocynthis, Glossocardia bosvallea, Macrotyloma uniflora, Sesamum laciniatum, Vernonia anthelmintica etc. The present work aimed to highlight not only the diversity of ethnomedicinally important plant species but also their potential utilization as resources in a conservation perspective.
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