title: Ethno-medicinal survey of important plants practiced by indigenous community at Ladha subdivision, South Waziristan agency, Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medicinal flora plays a vital role in treating various types of ailments in living beings. The present study was planned to investigate and document systematically the indigenous knowledge in a scientifically little explored area of Ladha sub-division, South Waziristan agency, Pakistan. Hence, this study would contribute positively to the field of ethnopharmacology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prior to ethnomedicinal data collection, regular field visits were conducted during the month of May and June 2015 to locate the sites and respondents from where the traditional knowledge was to be recorded. Ethno-medicinal data was collected during the month July and August 2015 through rapid appraisal approach (RAA) based on direct interaction with the indigenous communities by making group discussions, corner meetings and semi-structured interviews. Data was evaluated statistically by using the index of Use value (UV) and Frequency of citations (FC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 82 medicinal plants belonging to 42 families were reported in the study. Leaves were the most frequently used plant parts. Highest use values were recorded for Peganum harmala (0.93), Punica granatum (0.91), Thymus mongolicus (0.90), Chenopodium album (0.89), Coriandrum sativum (0.87), Mentha longifolia (0.87), Lactuca serriola (0.87) and Portulaca oleracea (0.87). Medicinal plants used for the gastro intestinal complexities and respiratory diseases were more than 9% followed by skin and diarrhea (7% each), liver disorders (5%) cough and cold fever (5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  People of the area mostly still rely on traditional herbal therapies. Keeping in mind the dependence of the indigenous community for their primary health care on such herbal remedies, pharmacological and critical toxicological investigation of certain flora is necessary. Moreover, projects should be designed to analyze the existing issues and problems related with medicinal plants conservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, 26000, Pakistan. azizmhsd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Muhammad Abdul
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, 26000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Shaheed Benazir Bhuto University Sheringal, District Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Amir Hasan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Atiq Ur
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, 26000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Rahmatullah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Islamia College , Peshawar, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D019359:Knowledge; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D010154:Pakistan; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
keywords: Ailments; Herbal therapies; Medicinal plants; Traditional knowledge; Use value