Ethnomedicinal important plants of Hamirpur (H.P.), India

The traditional knowledge system in India is fast eroding. There is an urgent need to inventories and record all the ethnomedicinal information among the diverse ethnic communities before the traditional culture is completely lost.Hamirpur district is the smallest district of Himachal Pradesh has an area of 1118 Sq.Km. and is situated between 76°18'-77°44' East longitudes and 31o25'-31°52'30'' North latitudes. The track is hilly covered by the Shivalik range and the elevation varies from 450-1, 100 meters.This region is rich in diverse flora and act as a hotspot for various type of herbal plants. So the region is suitable for ethnomedicinal exploration.Current exploitation of forests, which are rich in floral diversity, is leading to genetic erosion and the loss of valuable wild food resources from district Hamirpur. The forests are well known to produce many important plants of economic importance which are directly useful to the population of the region but these is a variety of still unexploited species in the region whose economic value should be exploited. Many plant food species have long been used locally, but their domestication has not started.