Documentation, Ethno-botanical and Ethno-medicinal Survey of Wild Leguminous Plants from Some Areas of District Rajouri, J&K State, India

Aim: To explore and collect data about ethno-botanical and ethno-medicinal uses of wild leguminous plants, growing in three tehsils of district Rajouri.

Study Design: Data about the various wild leguminous plants growing in the study area was gathered from the local people with the help of a self designed questionnaire.

Place and Duration of Study: Three tehsils (Nowshera, Sunderbani and Rajouri) of district Rajouri were visited for complete 2 year i.e. March 2012 to March 2014.

Methodology: Periodic field trips were conducted in rural and mountainous areas of the study area. During these trips, personal interviews were conducted with locals of the study area. These included the nomads (Gujjars and Bakkarwals), livestock rears, elderly community members, traditional healers and practitioners. These people were specifically interviewed for the traditional knowledge about legumes.

Results: A total of 51 species of family Fabaceae were collected from the study areas. These species cover an altitudinal gradient of 426-1015 masl and are known by different local names. Out of the 51enlisted legume species, only 43 were found to carry immense ethno-botanical and ethno-medicinal importance.

Conclusion: Legumes are of huge importance to human beings. The plants species enlisted and studied in the present communication represent low priced and regionally available quality nutrition for the local people. Detailed work is needed on the same aspect that will further enhance our understanding about the medicinal and nutritional values of ethno-botanically and ethno-medicinally important plant species of the family Fabaceae.