Ethnobotanical Studies of Weed Flora in Shivalik Hills, Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) - India

Ethnobotanical studies has great value in enhancing our knowledge about plants used by native communities and means adopted by them for its conservation. Wild plants meet most of the requirements for men and his domesticated animals. Weeds are troublesome as they reduce the crop yield and detract from the comfort of life. Inspite of all this, some of the weed are highly medicinal, edible and has great ethnobotanical values. Present study includes ethnobotanical importance of 42 weeds (41 dicots and 1 monocot) belonging to 18 families. The leaves and aerial parts of 11 spp, seeds of 5, roots of 4, stem of 3, flowers, roots and fruits of 2 spp each are used while 4 spp are used as whole plant. 30 weeds are medicinally important while 20 are edible, 3 are refrigerant and 6 weeds are used for other purposes.