SOME POTENTIAL MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THE TRIBALS OF ANGUL DISTRICT, ODISHA, INDIA

The present paper deals with the traditional uses of 20 medicinal plant species by some ethnic populace of the Angul district of Odisha. This ethnomedicinal study shows that the leaf, root, and fruit are the top three plant parts used. Vanda tessellata (Roxb.) Lodd. ex G. Don was the only epiphytic species and quite an important medicinal plant on the list. The plants possess a good range of medicinal properties to cure several ailments such as stomach, kidney, liver, cardiac, rheumatism, bone fracture, asthma, and skin problems, used as antidote, appetizer, and also effective for other diseases like fertility, general illness, fever, swellings, throat pain, etc. Large-scale commercial cultivation of these potential medicinal plants in a sustainable way is the urgent need of the hour with direct participation of the local tribal people and equal sharing of benefits and proper credit to them.