Survey of Major Ethnomedicinal Plants of District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh

This paper highlights the medicinal plant wealth and its gradual depletion in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. In most cases, the entire plant is dug out for their rhizomes or roots thereby reducing the chances of regeneration. Out of the forty one plants species in the study areas, 83% belong to herbs, 7% to shrubs and 10% to trees. Apiaceae and Asteraceae being the predominant families represented by 7 species each. Maximum utilisation (56%) of roots and rhizomes was observed followed by whole plant (12.2%), seeds (10%), leaf and flower (7.3%), fruits (5%), barks and leaf (2.4%), and bark, stem and flower (2.4%). Out of 41 plants recorded in the present study, 10 were reported to cure stomachache followed by rheumatism and fever (09), and 4 by anaemia and skin disease. Thirty-three plants species have been reported to have more than one therapeutic uses, whereas 17 species are reported to be used for single ailment.