Traditional use of medicinal plants in district Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India

Uttarakhand has a rich wisdom of traditional system of medicine since time immemorial. There is urgent need to document the medicinal and aromatic plants associated traditional knowledge which is vulnerable to shrink. Present study is an attempt to document the traditional system of medicine; used by the native communities of district Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India. On the basis of semi-structural questionnaire and in consultation with the local herbal practitioner (Vaidyas), 124 species belonging to 59 families and 108 genera, used for the treatment of 39 diseases were documented. About 38% of the species were used for their roots/rhizomes, followed by leaves (28%), fruits/seeds (10%) and whole plant (6%). Seeds, barks, flowers, twigs/branch and gum of less than 5% species were used for curing diverse form of diseases. About 16% of the recorded species were used for treating fever (20 spp.), 14% for skin diseases, 12% for Joint pains, 8% for cough and cold and stomach related disorders and 7% for blood pressure. 58 plants were used to cure more than one ailment, while 66 plants were used for single therapeutic application. Most of the species used in traditional healthcare in the region were harvested from wild. As a result of destructive harvesting, 13 species out of 124 recorded species are enlisted as threatened in Uttarakhand. Among these, 5 are critically rare, 5 are endangered and 3 are in vulnerable category. This study thus underlines the importance of traditional knowledge associated with medicinal and aromatic plants used for the treatment of different diseases.   Key words: Ethnobotany, Himalaya, primary healthcare, traditional knowledge, conservation, Asteraceae