Medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Datia District of Madhya Pradesh, India

An ethnobotanical survey was undertaken to collect information from traditional healers on the use of medicinal plants in Datia district of Bundelkhand during study period. The indigenous knowledge of local traditional healers and the native plants used for medicinal purposes were collected through questionnaire and personal interviews during field trips. The investigation revealed that, the traditional healers used 35 species of plants distributed in 33 genera belonging to 24 families to treat various diseases. In this study the most dominant family was Fabaceae and trees were most frequently used for the treatment of diseases. The documented medicinal plants were mostly used to cure various human diseases. This study showed that many people in the studied parts of Datia district still continue to depend on medicinal plants at least for the treatment of primary healthcare. The traditional healers are dwindling in number and there is a grave danger of traditional knowledge disappearing soon since the younger generation is not interested to carry on this tradition