An ethnobotanical survey of traditionally important medicinal plants of cold desert of Leh District, Ladakh Jishtu Vaneet1*, Chauhan Astha1, Dolma Tsering2, Thakur Yogesh1 1Forest Ecology and Climate Change DivisionHimalayan Forest Research Institute, Conifer Campus, Panthaghati, Shimla- 171009, Himachal Pradesh, India 2Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India *Corresponding author e-mail: vjishtuv@gmail.com
Online Published on 06 January, 2022. Abstract The harsh landscape of the cold desert region of NW India, nurtures abundant and distinctive ethnobotanically important plants. This floral wealth wrapped up with rich traditional knowledge is important for the indigenous people of the region, as well as for the researchers. The current study was carried out in selected villages of Leh district of Ladakh. A total of 52 households were surveyed and information on 36 plant species was gathered, belonging to 34 genera and 23 families. The family, Asteraceae was the most dominant representing 8 species. The reported ailments were classified into 15 disease categories. According to the use pattern, the entire plant parts of 20 species were utilised and for the remaining 18 plants, various other parts were used. Beside the qualitative data, quantitative parameters such as Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Consensus Index (CI %) and Use value (UV) were also analysed for the same set of data.Aconitum heterophyllum, Arnebia euchroma and Dactylorhiza hatagirea were species with maximum RFC value (0.057 each) and CI % value was highest for same set of species i.e. 5.769 each and maximum UV of 3 was recorded for Ephedra gerardiana. The study will prove to be a baseline document for recognition of novel drugs and will act as an association between field botany, ethnopharmacological studies and industrial research. Top Keywords Cold desert, Ethnobotany, Indigenous people, Quantitative parameters, Traditional knowledge. Top |