Abstract

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants was conducted in Tenta District, South Wollo, Ethiopia from December 2016 to May 2017. Data were collected using guided field walk, semi-structured interview, group discussion and direct field observation. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and response compared with chi-square test. The results documented 121 species of medicinal plants under 98 genera and 53 families based on local medicinal values. Of the total species recorded, Fabaceae contributed higher number (12) of medicinal plant species.  Majority of plants (63.5%) were harvested from wild habitat and 16.5% from home garden. Shrubs (44.1%) were the major plant types followed by herbs (30.5%) and trees (12.7%). Pearson correlation analysis (r = 0.44) indicated that there was significant increase of knowledge about medicinal plants as age increases. According to the present study, the existence of a number of medicinal plants is an indication of the presence of ample traditional medicinal knowledge among the community but these curative medicinal plant species decline from time to time. This calls for urgent and collaborative actions to keep the balance between medicinal plants availability and their utilization by the community.

Key words: Ethnobotany, indigenous knowledge, medicinal plants, Tenta District, traditional healers.