ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES ON PLANT RESOURCES OF TRICHIRAPALLI DISTRICT TAMILNADU, INDIA

The present ethno-botanical survey conducted in forest areas of Tiruchirapalli district resulted in the information about traditional plant uses of 197 plants species belonging to 168 genera distributed in 78 families. Of these, highest number of species belongs to Fabaceae with 18 species, 13 species to Euphorbiaceae, 9 species to Acanthaceae and Asclepiadaceae each. Information gathered from Tiruchirapalli district point to that the ethinic people, and other village people of this region possess good knowledge of herbal medicine, but their continuous and progressive exposure to modernization may result in extinction of the such rich traditional of knowledge in the course of time. Diseases / ailments found prevalent in the area are Piels, Jaundice, Dysentery, Bone fracture, diabetes, skin diseases, Asthma, kidney stone, tooth ache, fever and wounds. Majority of preparation are from leaves and some are of underground parts (like root, rhizome, tuber, etc). Following data includes botanical name of species, vernacular name family, plant part used method of medicine and details about its application. Among the plant parts used in different formulations, leaves are abundantly used which is followed by roots and whole plant.