An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by local people and tribals in topslip (annamalai hills) and ooty (chinchona village) of coimbatore and ooty district

An ethno botanical study was carried out to collect evidence on the use of medicinal plants by the people who live in Topslip and Ooty Taluk of Coimbatore and Ooty district, Tamil Nadu. This study designed to identify plants collected for medicinal purposes by the local people and tribals of Topslip and Ooty, located in the Coimbatore and Ooty district of Tamil Nadu and to document the traditional names, preparation and uses of these plants. This is the first ethnobotanical study in which statistical calculations about plants are done by ICF (Informant Consensus Factor) method. Field research was conducted by collecting ethno botanical information during structured and semi-structured interviews with native knowledgeable people in region. A total of 51 medicinal plants belonging to 31 families were identified in the area. These plants, used in the treatment of many different diseases, are freely harvested in this region at abundant amounts. In this assertion, the information collected from the traditional healers was used to compare with the already accessible literature on the ethnobotany of India. Results of the survey showed that leaf materials form the major component of plant parts harvested. The majority of the remedies are prepared in the form of dry powder from freshly collected plant parts. Mst of the remedies are prepared from a variety of species, and are mainly taken orally. Most of the medicinal plants are collected from the wild. Annamalai hills and Chinchona village Ooty an important area for medicinal plants and associated local knowledge; the natural vegetation being the most important reservoir for the majority of the medicinal plants. Environmental and cultural variations are in the course of threatening the resources and this signals the need for thoughtful efforts to create public awareness so that measures are taken to conserve the plants in the natural ecosystems and other suitable environments.