Ethnobotanical survey on plants used in Mai Municipality of Ilam district, eastern Nepal

Abstract

The continuous war against disease and illness has been fought by man from the beginning of human civilization to present date. For the victory of the war and maintenance of health, various plant-based medicines have been used since the early days (Ghani, 2013). From time immemorial, many medicinal plants are used as folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments in Nepal and rest of the world. Globally, about 30,000 to 70,000 plant species are used medicinally, and in developing world, 70-80% of the population depend upon plants for their primary health care (WHO, 2002). Similarly, at least 7,000 medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia are derived through ethnobotanical surveys from the plants mainly based on the folk medicine of native people (Coe & Anderson, 1996).