2018, Vol. 6, Issue 5, Part A

author(s)
Pooja Kumari, SS Samant and Sunil Puri

abstract
Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is the rich repository of medicinal plants. Inhabitants are largely dependent on the forest resources particularly on medicinal plants. The present paper is an attempt to assess the medicinal plants diversity of Central Himachal Pradesh of North Western Himalaya. A total of 400 species of medicinal value belonging to 111 families and 303 genera were recorded. Different plant parts were utilized, of which leaf (161 spp.) was used in the majority of cases. 169 species were natives and 231 non-natives. Maximum number of native (148), non-native (157) and near-endemic (40) species were found between 1800-2800m amsl, 02 species (Pimpinella acuminata and Angelica glauca) were found endemic to the Indian Himalayan Region. Maximum species (71) were used for fever (71), followed by wounds (55), skin problems (53), dysentery (5) and Headache (26). Due to over explotitation and habitat degradation the population of many species is decreasing fast.