2020, Vol. 8, Issue 3, Part B

author(s)
Nyamwamu Nyarang’o Charles and Nyamwamu Lydia Bonareri

abstract
An ethnomedical survey of plants used by Abagusii traditional healers of South West Kenya was carried out and 72 plant species representing 68 genera and 48 families were botanically identified. From the taxonomic consideration of the medicinal plant drugs, the Mimosaceae family had the highest number of medicinal plant species (6) followed by Papilionaceae (5). Four families, namely the Graminae, the Palmae, the Liliaceae and the Zingiberaceae represented the Monocotyledonae. The rest of the medicinal plants came from the Dicotyledoneae. It was also found that in this ethnic group there were a great variety of healing practices, for example, steam inhalation techniques, fumigations like incense, bloodletting, hydrotherapy and many other beliefs. This study also revealed that there is rapid disappearance of many indigenous herbal medicinal plants, hence the need for conservation measures to be taken.