title: Ethnomedicinal plants of Shankaracharya Hill, Srinagar, J&K, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primitive human societies have always relied on plants and plant products for various remedies. In certain areas, these folk medical prescriptions are endemic and have survived through ages from one generation to the next through word of mouth. They do not exist as written knowledge. The present study was undertaken with an objective of documenting the ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants of Shankaracharya Hill by taking the help of local herbalists, elderly and knowledgeable people.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data was quantitatively analysed using use-value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level (Fl%) indices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total 130 plant species from 57 families and 111 genera were ethno-medicinally utilized by the 103 informants interviewed in the present study. The most used families were Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and Brassicaceae. The medicinal plants were mainly herbs (79.2%). Leaves were the most used (27.6%) plant part followed by whole plant (14.8%), root (11.4%) and seed (10.5%). The most important species on the basis of UV were Viola odorata, Taraxacum campylodes, Aesculus hippocastanum, Artemisia absinthium, Daucus carota, Thymus serphyllum, Ephedra gerardiana and Salvia moorcroftiana. The values ICF ranged between 0.93 and 0.76. Only Epilobium hirsutum recorded 100% Fl. Some of the most important medicinal plants with high Fl values were Tribulus terrestris, Asparagus officinalis, Trifolium repens, Anemone biflora, Melia azedarach, A. absinthium, Lonicera quinquelocularis, Rosa webbiana, D. carota, Oxalis corniculata and Potentilla reptans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The contribution of plant parts collected through destructive methods was 29.5%. Harvesting of roots, rhizomes, bulbs and corm kills the parent plant and could be a severe threat for survival of the often rare and slowly reproducing medicinal plants, and therefore need sustainable utilization and conservation strategies. Ethnomedicinal species like A. absinthium, A. hippocastanum, D. carota, M. azedarach, T. campylodes, T. serphyllum, T. terrestris having high number of citations, UV and FL should be analyzed for phytochemicals and pharmacology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Government Degree College for Women, Udhampur 182101, J&K, India.
authors.forename: Kewal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Jammu 180001, J&K, India.
authors.forename: Yash Pal
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Government Degree College, Kathua 184104, J&K, India. Electronic address: manhasrk@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Manhas
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Jammu 180001, J&K, India.
authors.forename: Harpreet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bhatia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003625:Data Collection; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations
keywords: Ethnomedicinal plants; Fidelity level; Informant consensus factor; Shankaracharya Hill; Use-value