Abstract
An ethnobotanical study was done in the Ashezai and Salarzai Valleys, District Buner, Pakistan. A total of 163 plant species belonging to 73 families were reported with the help of standardized questionnaires for their traditional, medicinal and economic uses. Out of these, 62 families were dicots; 8 monocots and two pteridophytes. Gymnosperms were represented by one family. Asteraceae had 16 spp. which was followed by Papilionaceae and Poaceae (each with 9 spp.); Lamiaceae, Moraceae and Rosaceae (each with 6 spp.); Apiaceae, Polygonaceae and Solanaceae (each with 5 spp.); Amaranthaceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Euphorbiaceae (each with 4 species); Oleaceae and Salicaceae had 3 species each. The remaining families had less number of species. They included 110 medicinal plants, 51 fodder and forage species, 37 fuel wood species, 33 vegetable/pot-herb species, 22 fruit yielding species, 20 thatching/roofing species, 13 timber species, 18 ornamental species, 8 poisonous plants, 10 fencing/ hedges plants, 4 agricultural tools making species, 5 honeybee species. Deforestation, biotic interference and overgrazing are the responsible culprits for dwindling phytodiversity in the investigated area. This study might be helpful to ethnobotanists, conservationists, ecologist, pharmacologists, taxonomists, wild life and water shed managers as baseline data. Key words: Ethnobotanical study, plant species, medicinal plants, traditional knowledge.
Highlights
Ethnobotany can be defined as the "study of direct interrelations between humans and plants so the results from various investigations reveal important pharmacological activities of plants which may be used in developing novel therapeutic agents”
The people of the area depend on agriculture, fuel wood selling, timber wood selling, livestock and other natural resources of the area for a living
The ethnobotanical information revealed that 163 plants were used for various purposes in the investigated area
Summary
Ethnobotany can be defined as the "study of direct interrelations between humans and plants so the results from various investigations reveal important pharmacological activities of plants which may be used in developing novel therapeutic agents”. Studies on ethnobotany have been conducted in India (Mustafa et al, 2000; Siddiqui et al, 2000) Many of such studies have been done on the ethnobotany of various parts of District Swat (Sher et al, 2003, 2004; Hussain et al, 2004, 2005; Ibrar et al, 2007). Ethnobotanical studies (Sher et al, 2011) and biological spectrum (Sher and Khan, 2007) of the vegetation of Chagharzai Valley, District Buner has been worked out. It is evident from the review of literature that no work on the ethnobotany of Ashezai and Salarzai Valleys District Buner has been done so for. The present study reports the traditional utilization of some plants of the area, which might be helpful for the future workers, ecologist, pharmacologists, taxonomists; wild life and water shed managers in their efforts to develop this area (Table 1)
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