Flora of sacred groves and its ethno- botanical importance in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract
Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests (TDEF) are found along the Coromandel coast of peninsular India and their historical distribution ranges from Vishakapatnam in North to Ramanathapuram in South. These forests are now fragmented and reduced to a number of scattered ‘sacred groves’. TDEFs have been reported to harbor plants of high medicinal values. These forests currently face threats in terms of human disturbance and are reported to be shrinking in its extant.
This study is carried out to review the current status of medicinal plants, understanding of threats and suggesting pragmatic conservation measures.
One hectare plots (100 m × 100 m) were established in two sites namely Kothattai and Sendrakillai to study the species richness and its ethno botanical importance. All trees (≥ 5 cm dbh), lianas (≥ 1 cm dbh), shrub and herb were sampled. A total of 40 species were found to have medicinal value of which 50% were trees, 37.5% were lianas, 10% were herbs and 2.5% were shrubs. The result reveals that, these fragmented forests harbor a wide species of medicinal plants which highlights the need for prioritizing the medicinal plants conservation.
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