Pilot Survey of Plants Found Along the Roadsides, Hedges and Waste Places of Gamdi Village, Anand, Gujarat

Abstract

Field survey is an essential tool for understanding the availability and distribution of medicinal plants. Eventually it helps in promotion and conservation of medicinal plants by educating the people about their medicinal uses. So, a survey was conducted under the promotion of National Service Scheme (NSS) to identify and trace out the distribution of medicinally useful plants which grow in Gamdi village as a weed along the roadside including the hedges and waste places. Gamdi village is located in Anand Tehsil of Anand district in Gujarat, India. The village has an elevation/altitude of 44 m above sea level, having medium and deep clay black soil and loamy sand. The entire survey was categorized into zones and medicinal species were documented and classified according to their habit, occurrence and incidence (Table 1) for understanding their distribution. In this survey 81plant species from 38 families where identified (Table 2) out of which medicinal documentation of 79 plants species (97.53%) could be traced directly in Nighantu (lexicon of Ayurveda). Looking at the climatic condition and soil type of Gamdi village, we can conclude that these medicinal plants are indigenous to this area and hence can be easily cultivated in cost effective manner. Hence cultivation of these medicinal plants which are in demand can be encouraged to meet the raw material needs of nearby pharmacies.