Ethnomedicinal Plant Resources of Mizoram, India: Implication of Traditional Knowledge in Health Care System

Socially, folk medicines, mainly based on plants, enjoy a respectable position today, especially in the developing countries, where modern health service is limited. Safe, effective and inexpensive indigenous remedies are gaining popularity among the people of both urban and rural society of India. A floristic survey of ethnomedicinal plants occurring in the tribal area of Mizoram was conducted over the period of last five years to assess the potentiality of plant resources for modern treatments. The information provided in this paper on medicinal uses of plants is based on the exhaustive interviews with local physicians practising indigenous system of medicine, village headmen, priests and various tribal folks/groups of Mizoram. In this paper, 159 ethnomedicianl plant species belonging to 134 genera and 56 families recorded from tropical forests, home gardens, roadsides and University Campus of Mizoram have been described. A categorical list of plant species along with their local name, scientific name, distribution status, habit, plant part/s used and the mode of administration reported for effective control of different diseases linked with humans.