Traditional and Ethnomedicinal uses of some grasses (Poaceae) of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Abstract

Himachal Pradesh, a part of Western Himalaya, is a repository of medicinal and aromatic plants and the traditional knowledge associated with these plants. The people living in remote and tribal areas still depend on household remedies for healthcare. The Kinnaur district inhabited by tribal community known as Kannaura, have a great respect for and faith in Amchi system of medicine. Various localities were visited during May 2011 to September 2014 and ethnobotanical information was collected through interviews with elderly people, women, shepherds and local amchi, to highlight the traditional use of medicinal grasses by the native people. The present paper provides information on the medicinal uses and other traditional uses of 20 wild species of grasses belonging to family Poaceae. The present study contributes significant ethnobotanical information about grasses from this remote high altitude and difficult region of the World, which remains snowbound and cut off from the rest of the World for 5-6 months due to heavy snow fall.