An ethnobotanical survey of indigenous medicinal plants near Siddhi valley region of Lansdowne, Garhwal Himalaya, India

AbstractSince ancient times ethnobotanical knowledge among indigenous people has been an important source of information on how to use medicinal plants and their various diagnostic methods. The world’s traditional medicinal systems rely on these medicinal plants, considered nature’s greatest gift to heal various illnesses. These healing practices widely used in the Indian Himalayan since the Vedic period. The Garhwal Himalayas serves as one of the finest regions in this list with a treasury of these medicinal plants. The present survey aims to explore about 44 medicinal plants collected from an ethnobotanical survey of Lansdowne tehsil of Garhwal district, Uttarakhand. These plants belong to 32 different families. Solanaceae (4) represents the highest number of plants, followed by Asteraceae (3), 7 families with 2 plants each, and the remaining 23 with one plant each. Among these plants, herbs (22) are the most used vegetation, and leaves constitute the most usable parts (26%). These plants are involved in curing 20 different health elements, of which dermatological disorders (33) show the highest number of plants used, and four other disorders also used 20 > plants to cure these health ailments. This study provides an insight into the floristic wealth of this area and helps to encourage the ethnobotanist to explore these types of unexplored regions to gain significant knowledge related to these herbal practices with conservations of these resources for our future generations.