Diversity of Ethnomedicinal plants used by Tribals of Karjat Taluka in Maharashtra, India
Gauri S. Soman
Department of Botany, Maharashi Dayanand College, Parel, Mumbai – 400012 (India) E mail : drgssoman@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT
Karjat Taluka lies in the Raigad district of Maharashtra state 18o55’o” N and 73o20’o” E. It is characterized by average rainfall of 2500 mm, black rocky basalt to reddish yellow coloured soil. Karjat is surrounded by moist or dry deciduous to semi evergreen forests. It lies midst the Bhor Ghat, Sahyadri and Western Ghats. The tribals of these region are Katkaries, Thakurs and Mahadev Koli. The paper deals with medicinal plants used by these tribals for treatment of diseases and curing common ailments. The data on ethnomedicinal plants is on the verge of extinction, so a survey was carried out to collect valuable information on traditional medicinal plants. In this investigation documentation of 20 plants belonging to various families is recorded. The information regarding use of plants, their botanical names and local names is described in this paper.