Traditional use of medicinal plants among the indigenous communities in district Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, India

A number of indigenous communities reside in the Himalayan belt of Baramulla, where the lack of modern health care facilities represents crucial problems to their survival. Therefore the current study was aimed at documenting traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in the region. Ethnomedicinal data was collected during 2018-2020. Fifty-one informants were interviewed in seventeen villages via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and group discussions. Data was also analyzed by various ethnobotanical indices. A total of 85 plant species distributed in 40 families were documented. Asteraceae was reported to be the dominant plant family and leaves were the most frequently utilized plant part. Musculoskeletal disorder scored the highest ICF value (0.87). Colchicum luteum (0.61), Verbascum thapsus (0.59) reported highest UV and Viola odorata, Ajuga integrifolia had the highest FL of 100%. Of the documented species about 18 plants (21%) were reported for the first time to be used in ...