कृषि प्रौद्योगिकी

अमूर्त

Ethno medicinal Uses of Plants in the Treatment of Pediatrics (Children Diseases) by the Local People of Tehsil Dera Ismial Khan

Riffat Naz

The present research project was carried out during 2005-2008 with the aims to investigate ethno botanical profile, plant diversity and taxonomy of the flora particularly hydrophytes, sedges, grasses and asclepiads of Dera Ismail Khan District. The district is located in the extreme south of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan. The area is gifted with diverse and unique flora, as it is adjacent to the South Waziristan Agency and Suleiman Range in the West, Koh Sheikh Buddin in the North and Indus River in the East. The people are mostly poor and depend on plant resources for their domestic needs. The study was carried out to analyze traditional knowledge of plants resources including local names, habit and habitat, distribution in area, Pakistan, & world, parts used, flowering period, folk medicinal uses, indigenous recipes and other ethno botanical uses, and taxonomic diversity of flora of the area. In this study, in total 434 plant species were recorded. During the study 1 species (1 family) of bryophytes, 4 species (3 families) of pteridophytes, 3 gymnosperms belonging to 2 families and 426 angiosperms belonging to 91 families (17 families of monocots and 74 families of dicots) were collected. Bryophytes constitute 0.23%, pteridophytes 0.92%, gymnosperms 0.69%, monocots 21.1% and dicots 77.06% of total floral biodiversity. Based on the type of usage, the major usage types include medicinal plants 63 species (14.5%), fodder and forage 48 (11.0%), honey bee 85 (19.5%), vegetables and pot herbs 47 (10.8%), fuel wood 59 (13.6%), plants used to make agricultural appliances 13 (3%), edible fruit producing 21 (4.8%), 11 (2.5%) plants used in fencing and hedging and 13 species (3%) for making furniture.