A study on traditional medicinal plants of Pillur Beat (Pillur slope RF and Nellithurai RF), Karamadai range, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu.

Abstract

Objective: To explore traditional ethnomedicinal knowledge of Irula tribes of Pillur Beat (Pillur slope RF and Nellithurai RF), Karamadai Range, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: With the help of semi-structure questionnaire, resource persons were interviewed on medicinal use of local flora in six tribal villages of Pillur Beat, during the months of Jan 2016 to Aug 2016 with frequent field visits in the study area. Results: A total of 80 plant species belonging to 73 genera of 41 families were reported in the study area, of which trees ranked first with 36 species. In terms of the number of medicinal plant species in a family, Euphorbiaceae (8 species) is the dominant family. Leaves were most frequently used plant part for the treatment of diseases. Decoction ranks first in the mode of administration. Conclusion: Our study revealed that in all the studied tribal villages the plants were used to cure common diseases like fever, skin diseases, wound healing, asthma, etc. Many of these plants in the study area are to be conserved. The study also suggested that the present information on medicinal use of plants may be used for botanical and pharmacological research in future for the discovery of new sources of drugs.