Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 7(2), April 2008, pp. 300-310 Indigenous plants in traditional healthcare system in Kedarnath valley of western Himalaya VP Bhatti * & DP Vashishtha/ 'Department of Botany, Government PG College Gopeshwar, Chamoli, Uttarakhand 2Department of Botany, HNB Garhwal University, Sri nagar,Uttarakhand E-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected] Received 13 January 2006; revised 30 July 2007 The study deals with the indigenous plants used in traditional healthcare in Kedamath valley of Uttarakhand in western Himalaya. A total 130 plant species belonging to 94 genera and 62 families have been identified. Of these, 21 species are trees, 19 species are shrubs and 90 species are herbs. These species diversity are described for their distribution, utilisation pattern, and indigenous uses. The roots, rhizomes, bulbs, stems, tubers, leaves, barks, fruits and seeds are used for treatment of different ailments. The plants are rare (30 sp), endangered (15 sp), and vulnerable (3 sp) and common (82). As per their population structure, several anthropogenic and natural causes are analysed for their threatened status. The study is a first attempt to study the medicinal plants of the Kedamath valley area. Documentation of traditional knowledge on the ethnomedicinal use of these plants was studied. Keywords: Kedarnath valley, Ethnomedicine, Traditional healthcare, Plant conservation 8 IPC Int. C1. : A61K36/00, A61PII02, A61PII08, A61PlIIO, A61Pl116, A61P5/00, A61P9/14, A61P17/00, A61P17/02, A61P19/00, A61P29/00, A61P31/00, The Indian Himalaya presents a spectrum of identify threatened status and suggest the future action biological and cultural diversity. It supports 18,440 plan for safeguard of plants species.