Ethnobotanical Survey Of Medicinal Plants Used By The Lushai Community In Bandarban District, Bangladesh

Abstract

Over the years, ethnobotanical survey has progressed and contributed with knowledge about the use of plants by indigenous communities. In fact the conservation of biomes and use of plant species in medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological areas depend on the important indigenous information. The Lushai indigenous community living in the Bandarban hill-tracts of Bangladesh has long been an admiration of utilizes plants around them in various purposes and they depend on surrounding vegetation in their daily life. However, there was no effort to document their indigenous knowledge. For the first time ethnobotanical survey is carried out on the utilization of medicinal plants by Lushai community living in Bandarban district. The information had been documented by interviewing traditional herbalists, various elderly men and women following different ethnobotanical methods. All the plants were listed along with their scientific name, lushai name, local name, habit, family, used parts, illness treated, mode of preparation and mode of application. A total of 82 plant species in 72 genera under 44 families have been identified which are used to treat 27 different ailments by the traditional healers. Euphorbiaceae and Zingiberaceae were the most frequently used family in context to the number of species by the Lushai Community. Leaves were found as the most common used plant parts for folk medicine formulation.