The current study on the traditional use of medicinal plants was carried out from February 2018 to March 2020, in Gokand Valley, District Buner, Pakistan. The goal was to collect, interpret, and evaluate data on the application of medicinal plants. Along with comprehensive notes on individual plants species, we calculated Use Value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use Report (UR), Fidelity Level (FL), Informant Consensus Factor (FCI), as well as Family Importance Value (FIV). During the current study, a total of 109 species belonging to 64 families were reported to be used in the treatment of various ailments. It included three families (four species) of Pteridophytes, 58 families (99 species) of angiosperm, one family (three species) of Gymnosperms, and two families (three species) of fungi. The article highlights the significance of domestic consumption of plant resources to treat human ailments. The UV varied from 0.2 (Acorus calamus L.) to 0.89 (Acacia modesta Wall.). The RFC ranged from 0.059 (Acorus calamus L. and Convolvulus arvensis L.) to 0.285 (Acacia modesta Wall.). The species with 100% FL were Acacia modesta Wall. and the fungus Morchella esculenta Fr., while the FCI was documented from 0 to 0.45 for gastro-intestinal disorders. The conservation ranks of the medicinal plant species revealed that 28 plant species were vulnerable, followed by rare (25 spp.), infrequent (17 spp.), dominant (16 spp.), and 10 species endangered. The traditional use of plants needs conservation strategies and further investigation for better utilization of natural resources.

The residents of remote areas mostly depend on folk knowledge of medicinal plants to cure different ailments. The present study was carried out to document and analyze traditional use regarding the medicinal plants among communities residing in Koh-e-Safaid Range northern Pakistani-Afghan border. A purposive sampling method was used for the selection of informants, and information regarding the ethnomedicinal use of plants was collected through semi-structured interviews. The collected data was analyzed through quantitative indices viz. relative frequency citation, use value, and family use value. The conservation status of medicinal plants was enumerated with the help of International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List Categories and Criteria (2001). Plant samples were deposited at the Herbarium of Botany Department, University of Peshawar for future reference. One hundred eight informants including 72 male and 36 female were interviewed. The informants provided information about 92 plants species used in the treatment of 53 ailments. The informant reported maximum number of species used for the treatment of diabetes (16 species), followed by carminatives (12 species), laxatives (11 species), antiseptics (11 species), for cough (10 species), to treat hepatitis (9 species), for curing diarrhea (7 species), and to cure ulcers (7 species), etc. Decoction (37 species, i.e., 40%) was the common method of recipe preparation. Most familiar medicinal plants were Withania coagulans, Caralluma tuberculata, and Artemisia absinthium with relative frequency (0.96), (0.90), and (0.86), respectively. The relative importance of Withania coagulans was highest (1.63) followed by Artemisia absinthium (1.34), Caralluma tuberculata (1.20), Cassia fistula (1.10), Thymus linearis (1.06), etc. This study allows identification of novel uses of plants. Abies pindrow, Artemisia scoparia, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Salvia reflexa, and Vincetoxicum cardiostephanum have not been reported previously for their medicinal importance. The study also highlights many medicinal plants used to treat chronic metabolic conditions in patients with diabetes. The folk knowledge of medicinal plants species of Koh-e-Safaid Range was unexplored. We, for the first time, conducted this quantitative study in the area to document medicinal plants uses, to preserve traditional knowledge, and also to motivate the local residents against the vanishing wealth of traditional knowledge of medicinal flora. The vast use of medicinal plants reported shows the significance of traditional herbal preparations among tribal people of the area for their health care. Knowledge about the medicinal use of plants is rapidly disappearing in the area as a new generation is unwilling to take interest in medicinal plant use, and the knowledgeable persons keep their knowledge a secret. Thus, the indigenous use of plants needs conservational strategies and further investigation for better utilization of natural resources.

Medicinal plants are important treasures for the treatment of different types of diseases. Current study provides significant ethnopharmacological information, both qualitative and quantitative on medical plants related to children disorders from district Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan. The information gathered was quantitatively analyzed using informant consensus factor, relative frequency of citation and use value method to establish a baseline data for more comprehensive investigations of bioactive compounds of indigenous medicinal plants specifically related to children disorders. To best of our knowledge it is first attempt to document ethno-botanical information of medicinal plants using quantitative approaches. Total of 130 informants were interviewed using questionnaire conducted during 2014-2016 to identify the preparations and uses of the medicinal plants for children diseases treatment. A total of 55 species of flowering plants belonging to 49 genera and 32 families were used as ethno-medicines in the study area. The largest number of specie belong to Leguminosae and Cucurbitaceae families (4 species each) followed by Apiaceae, Moraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Solanaceae (3 species each). In addition leaves and fruits are most used parts (28%), herbs are most used life form (47%), decoction method were used for administration (27%), and oral ingestion was the main used route of application (68.5%). The highest use value was reported for species Momordica charantia and Raphnus sativus (1 for each) and highest Informant Consensus Factor was observed for cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases categories (0.5 for each). Most of the species in the present study were used to cure gastrointestinal diseases (39 species). The results of present study revealed the importance of medicinal plant species and their significant role in the health care of the inhabitants in the present area. The people of Bannu own high traditional knowledge related to children diseases. In conclusion we recommend giving priority for further phytochemical investigation to plants that scored highest FIC, UV values, as such values could be considered as good indicator of prospective plants for discovering new drugs and attract future generations towards traditional healing practices.