1. Introduction

Historically, the Himalaya is well known for its rich biodiversity, including medicinal, aromatic and spice plant species ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}. Uttarakhand state of India being located in the Himalaya harbors a rich diversity of unique medicinal and aromatic plants ^[5]. The varied altitudinal zones of Uttarakhand – alpine, subalpine, temperate and subtropical – provide a remarkable range of habitats and micro-habitats for variety of useful plants to flourish. Since time immemorial, the natives of Uttarakhand hills have been thriving on these natural resources, which form an integral component of their livelihood ^{[5, 6, 7]}.

The rich plant diversity has provided an initial advantage to the inhabitants of Uttarakhand for scrutinizing various plant species for the purpose of food, medicine, perfumes and spices. Over the years of trial and errors, they have developed a great deal of knowledge on the use of various plant species ^{[8, 9]}. However, at present, the traditional knowledge on the use of plant resources is dwindling due to several reasons, including shift in attitude towards a more western lifestyle and declining interest of younger generations to carry forward the tradition ^{[10, 11]}. Therefore, a need is felt to document such valuable information on the use of plant species before it vanishes completely.

There are areas in the remote hills where people still practice traditional way of life and hence use nearby plant species for curing diseases and other purposes. Tons watershed being tugged deep into the hills the inhabitants of this area are relatively less influenced by the modern forces. In this background, the present study aims to document the plant species used by inhabitants of Tons watershed, especially for curing diseases and use as perfumes.

2. Methods

The present study was conducted in the villages of Tons watershed (Figure 1), which is located in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state in India between 30°55' - 31°28' N and 77°22' - 78°38' E. Tons watershed spans over a large altitudinal range from 1400 m to 6323 m above mean sea level ^[12]. The river Tons originates from the Bandarpuch mountain range (6,316 m ASL) of the Himalaya. Tons watershed harbors a rich biodiversity and diverse vegetation types due to wide altitudinal range, diverse terrain, and history of anthropogenic pressures. The major forest types in the Tons watershed are Himalayan chir pine (Pinus roxburghaii Sarg.; Figure 2), Banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus ex Bahadur), Moru oak (Quercus dilatata Royle), deodar (Cedrus deodara Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don), blue pine (Pinus wallichiana A.B.Jacks.) and Kharsu oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm), apart from the bamboo brakes, alder, birch-fir, birch-rhododendron, juniper scrub and alpine meadows ^{[13, 14]}. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the major livelihood activities of villagers ^[6]. At present, river rafting has become one of the income generation activities to some villagers. The study area still possesses some unique cultures being tugged deep into the mountains.

Figure 1. The landscape of Tons watershed in Uttarakhand state of India. - Photo by Chandra Prakash Kala

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Figure 2. Chir pine forest in the Tons watershed. - Photo by Chandra Prakash Kala

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Field survey was undertaken during May and June 2014 among the villagers of Tons watershed in order to gather information on various indigenous uses of plant species, especially for curing ailments and their use as spice and perfumes. During the survey period, information was also gathered using semi-structured questionnaires from the traditional herbal healers and elderly men and women on the types of ailments cured by plant species and plant parts used in curing ailments. Cross-checking of data was made with the help of group discussions, which include the members from both the genders of the society. The participant observation method was also employed to understand the methods and techniques adopted by the healers and other local people for curing diseases. The nearby forest and agricultural lands were surveyed with the help of local people and practitioners of herbal medicine for identification of medicinal plant species and understanding their indigenous uses.

Figure 3. The fruits and plants of Rubes ellipticus – a medicinal and wild edible plant in the study area. - Photo by Chandra Prakash Kala

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Table 1. Plants used as medicines, perfumes and spices by local people in Tons watershed of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand state of India

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Table 2. Plant parts used by people of Tons watershed for curing diseases and other purposes

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Table 3. Major ailments as cured by the use of plant species

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3. Result and Discussion

The present investigation has resulted in the documentation of 84 plant species, which were used in curing various ailments, of these 3 species were used as spice and 4 species as perfumes (Table 1). These species were distributed over various life forms; 19 were tree species, 12 were shrub, and 53 were herbaceous species. Different plant parts were used as medicine by the local people of Tons watershed (Figure 3). For curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was relatively higher (57%) than the belowground plant parts. Of the aboveground plant parts, fruit and leaf were used in the majority of cases (17 species), followed by bark of woody species (14 species). Different belowground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome and bulb were used as a medicine for the treatment of various ailments (Table 2). The whole plant of 8 species was used as medicine. About 44 types of ailments were treated by using these 84 plant species, of which the highest numbers of plant species (12 species) were used as general healthcare tonic. About 11 medicinal plant species were used in curing various skin diseases, 10 species for fever, 9 for cut and wounds and 7 each for cough-cold and diarrhea-dysentery (Table 3).

Previous studies carried out in the study area report the use of 23 plant species as medicine ^[15]. In the adjacent valley called as Rawain valley, 63 plant species are reported for curing diseases by the local people ^[16]. The use of various plant species remained intact in the study area for centuries being a remote hilly region. With due course of time, the advent of commercial interests has overexploited many important plant species. The loss of native biodiversity due to natural and anthropogenic pressures and changes in traditional land-use practices altered the natural vegetation composition ^[12]. The decline in diversity of useful plant species may ultimately affect the traditional system of plant use for medicine, perfumery and spice. There are reports suggest the decline in number of traditional herbal healers due to decline in number of youths coming forward to learn this tradition in the state of Uttarakhand ^{[17, 18]}. Migration of youths from hills to towns and cities is also held responsible for decline in the traditional system of therapy ^[16].

Table 4. Threatened species recorded in the study area

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The present investigations reveal that 17% of the documented plant species in the study area are threatened. Of the 14 threatened plant species (Table 4), 10 are endangered, 2 vulnerable and 2 other species are critically endangered as per the IUCN threat assessment ^{[2, 19, 20]}. The critically endangered species are Nardostachyus jatamansi (Don) DC. and Picrorhiza kurrooa Benth. The less availability of these rare species in the study area affects the traditional system of therapy. Conservation of these valuable plant species is the need of hour. Attempts should be made to document the indigenous uses of plant species at a larger scale in order to safeguard the valuable knowledge practiced over centuries for the welfare of the society. There is a need to rejuvenate the traditional system of plant use for therapy and perfumery as it provides a time-tested goods and services.

Acknowledgements

Author thanks the practitioners of herbal medicine and villagers of Tons watershed for sharing their traditional knowledge and also for their cooperation and support during the fieldwork. The help extended by the State Forest Department and Asharam Bangwal is duly acknowledged.

References

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