Diversity and Utilization of Medicinal Flora of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University Campus Rajouri Jammu and Kashmir, India

Background: Indian Himalayan region has a rich heritage of species and genetic strains of flora and fauna and is considered as mega hot spot of biological diversity. Wild plant raw material is in great demand around the world for use by pharmaceutical companies, ethnomedicinal practitioners and variety of traditional medicines. India is one of the world’s major exporters of raw herbal drugs and the Himalayas are renowned for their vast storehouse of medicinal plants. The present study conducted at Baba Ghulam Shah Basdshah University located in District Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir recorded the presence of 46 species of medicinal plants belonging to 34 families. Methods: The plant specimens were collected from different parts of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University Campus. All the parameters like habit, habitat, life form, parts used, methods of use were recorded on filed notebook along with date of collection. Routine herbarium practices were followed for preserving the plant specimens. The plant specimens were collected and their external morphology was studied and examined carefully. The specimens of medicinal plants were properly labelled and subsequently deposited in the Herbarium, Centre of Biodiversity Studies, BGSBU, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Result: During ethnobotanical exploration, 46 species distributed over 44 genera in 34 Families of wild medicinal plants were documented from four sampling sites. The details pertaining to common names, part used, medicinal uses and active constituents of each species were tabulated. Among the plant parts used, leaves contributed for medicinal use in about 63% species, followed by fruits in 19% species, underground parts in 10.8% species and flowers in 6.5% species. The enlisted plant species belonged to three life forms viz., herbs (21), shrubs (15) and trees (10). Asteraceae was the most dominant family represented by 4 species followed by Moraceae, Lamiaceae and Fabaceae each represented by 3 species, while as families like Meliaceae, Violaceae, Berberidaceae were represented by 01 species each.