Ethno Medicinal Plants Use by Two Sympatric Tribes of Central India

Abstract

Forest is inseparable part of life and livelihood of the tribes, in the present study two large and sympatric tribal groups were compared for their knowledge in terms of medicinal plants used. In order to assess their rich knowledge in terms of the medicinal plants a targeted questionnaire was prepared. In the twin Central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh 7 Gond and 4 Baiga villages were surveyed.  The paper highlights the rich traditional knowledge of the tribes; we report 100 species of medicinal plants being used by both the tribes living in Central India. Baiga tribes used 59 species belonging to 55 genus and 35 plant families while Gond tribe used 10 species belonging to 10 genus and 10 plant families. Gond tribes used 6 different plant parts out of which root 33%, seed 50%, fruit 50%, bark 33%, tuber 17%, flower 17%. Baiga tribes used 10 different plant parts the contribution of each part are root 2%, bark 1%, leaf 90%, rhizome 30%, whole plant 40%, seed 10%, fruit 50%, tuber 20%, prop root 10%, inflorescence 2%. This point to fact that the Baiga tribes are more knowledgeable in terms of medicinal plants use than Gond. This study did not share similarities with respect to plant species being used by different tribes when compared to the works of earlier authors.