BIODIVERSITY STATUS, DISTRIBUTION AND USE PATTERN OF SOME ETHNO-MEDICINAL PLANTS

The erosion of plant biodiversity is a matter of global concern. Due to unawareness the

building blocks of entire ecosystems are disappearing. Some medicinal plants like Taxus

baccata Linn., Thymus serpyllum Linn., Coleus forskohli Will., Oroxylum indicum Linn.,

Valeriana hardwickii Wall., Malaxis acuminata D.Don, Habenaria edgeworthii Hook.

f.ex.Collett., Costus speciosus (Koen.) Sm., Dioscorea deltodea Wall., Gloriosa superba

Linn., Polygonatum cirrhifolium Wall. and Polygonatum verticillatum Linn., Thalictrum

foliolosum DC., Berberis aristata DC., Baliospermum montanum Will., Bergenia ciliata

(Haworth) Sternb., Clerodendrum serratum Linn., Valeriana jatamansii Jones, Celastrus

paniculatus Will., Habenaria intermedeia D. Don, and Curculigo orchioides Gaerth are

reached on the border of extinction. The 2008 IUCN Red List shows that the number of

threatened plant species is increasing gradually (IUCN 2008). Therefore, there is an

immediate need for conservation steps to be taken up along with promotion of conservation of

medicinal plants.

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African Medicinal Plants