Indigenous Uses of Angiospermic Parasitic Plants of Hassan District, Karnataka

Studies on indigenous uses of parasitic plants in Hassan district have been conducted, and parasitic plants have medicinal importance; however, the medicinal values of these parasitic plants are still an understudied area. Hence, their knowledge on parasites was found to be very limited. The present study reported the use of 37 species of parasites belonging to 7 families from the study area. The most dominant family is Loranthaceae with 12 species, followed by Orobanchaceae (11 spp.). Viscum is the most diversified genus, contributing five useful species, followed by Cuscuta, Macrosolen, and Striga (3 spp.). Various illnesses, including gynaecological, skin, respiratory, digestive, diuretic, and veterinary, were treated in traditional manners.