Medicinal plants used by the <i style="">Kandhas</i> of Kandhamal district of Orissa

Abstract

The paper deals with the ethnomedicinal information on the <i style="">Kandha</i> tribe of Kandhamal district of Orissa situated on the Eastern Ghats of India. Use of allopathic drugs by the <i style="">Kandhas </i>inhabiting in the remote part of the district is almost unknown. Several field trips were made to the area and information on the uses of plants was collected along with plant specimens.&nbsp; First hand information on use of 98 plant species under 93 genus and 59 families against 127 ailments was collected from the <i style="">Kandha </i>community of the district. There is a need for further critical phytochemical analysis and bioactive effects of the information collected on plants used by the tribes. The uses that are recorded in the paper are almost new to the literature. Botanical name, local name(s), families and their medicinal uses have been enumerated. <b style=""></b>