Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants used by Malayali Tribes in Yercaud Hills of Eastern Ghats, India

Medicinal plants have played an important role in treating and preventing a variety of diseases throughout the world. India is one of the most medico-culturally diverse countries in the world where the medicinal plant sector is part of a time honoured tradition that is respected even today. The present study was initiated with an aim to identify traditional healers who are practicing herbal medicine among the Malayali tribes in Yercaud hills of Eastern Ghats, India and to document their indigenous knowledge on the utilization of medicinal plants particularly most common ethnomedicinal plants. The ethnobotanical information was collected through interviews among local traditional healers in the study area. A total of 90 species of plants distributed in 80 genera belonging to 44 families were identified as commonly used ethnomedicinal plants in the study. As a result, the present study revealed that the information documented regarding the therapeutic uses will provide basic data for further studies mainly focused on conservation, cultivation and economic welfare of the tribal population.