Published Paper Details:

Traditional uses of herbs in healthcare practices are providing clues to new areas of research; However, information on the uses of indigenous plants for medicine is not well documented from many rural areas of Tamilnadu including Kanyakumari District. The study aimed to look into the diversity of medicinal herbs that are used by local people of Agastheeswaram Taluk, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, Southern India. Extensive field surveys are conducted in 12 areas for about two years from October 2014- October 2016 to survey the medicinal herbs and collect the information from villagers. A total of 150 medicinal herbs used by local people were documented. These medicinal herbs were distributed in 118 genera belonging to 46 families and 22 order under 8 clades / groups. Among the 150 species, 120 species belongs to dicotyledons and 30 species belongs to monocotyledons. The dominant clade is Asterids (53 species from 45 genera), followed by Rosides (38 species from 29 genera), Monocots (30 species from 24 genera), Superasterids (23 species from 16 genera). The most dominant family in the present study area is Asteraceae with 15 species followed by Amaranthaceae (12 species), Fabaceae (10 species), Poaceae (8 species), Euphorbiaceae (7 species). All these 150 medicinal herbs ethnomedicinally used, next to that 108 species used in folklore followed by Siddha (98 species), Ayurveda (86 species), Unani (38 species) and Homeopathy 13 species). Maximum mode of preparation juice (66 species) followed by paste (56 species), decoction (40 species). The maximum of whole plant (75 species) used for medicine followed by leaves (54 species), roots (19 species), seeds (12 species). This study focused the importance, utilization and conservation of the medicinal herbs among the people.