Abstract
Southwestern region of Bangladesh is very rich in floral diversity, and their diversified uses. An extensive survey was conducted to investigate ethnobotanical applications of botanical species by the community of Khulna, Bangladesh. We focused on plants and community relationships, identify the most important species used, determine the relative importance of the species surveyed and calculated the Fidelity level (FI) and Cultural Significance Index (CSI) concerning individual species. In total, we have listed 136 species of 114 genera under 52 families, of which 41% (63) species were utilized as food, followed by 30% (45) medicine, 14% (21) constructional timber, 11% (17) ornamental, and 4% (6) other uses. Inheritance of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was the primary source of knowledge acquisition through oral transmission over the generations. However, only 34% of the informants were traditional herbal practitioners. Most of the medicinal uses are primly associated with anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antiseptic, expectorant, antidote, fever reduction, and pain relief. Key words: Plants, ethnobotany, homestead, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Highlights
Most of the territories of Bangladesh are formed by a delta plain with a tropical monsoon climate
Angiosperms are dominated in checklists with 5,700 species followed by 1,700 pteridophytes, 500 medicinal plant species, 130 fiber yielding plants species, 68 woody legume species, 29 orchid species and three species of gymnosperm (Mukul et al, 2008)
Iu = Total number of informants that mentioned the plant for any use. (b) Cultural significance index, Cultural Significance Index (CSI) = ∑ (i*e*c) *CF (Turner, 1988; Stoffl et al, 1990; Hoffman and Gallaher, 2007)
Summary
Most of the territories of Bangladesh are formed by a delta plain with a tropical monsoon climate. They were categorized according to their specific use such as food, medicine, construction, fuel, ornamental, and others and analyzed according to the following indices: (a) Fidelity level, FL = Ip – Iu * 100% (Friedman, 1986; Hoffman and Gallaher, 2007) Here, Ip = Number of informants who cited the species for the particular use. Iu = Total number of informants that mentioned the plant for any use. 136 species of 114 genera under 52 families have been identified throughout this study.
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