Abstract

Wayanad district is with a hilly terrain on the southern Western Ghats and located in the northeast part of Kerala state. The ethnic diversity of the district is very impressive as evidenced by ten different tribal groups. Ethnobotanical studies in the district resulted in the documentation of information on 165 edible plants used by Kattunaikka, Paniya and Kuruma tribes. The Paniya community possesses knowledge regarding 136 taxa of wild edibleplants, with Kattunaikkas coming next with knowledge of 97 taxa. Amongst these tribal communities, the Kurumas are at the bottom of the knowledge-ladder with knowledge of 42 taxa of wild edible plants.

Key words: Ethnobotany, India, Kattunaikka, Kerala, Kuruma, Paniya, Wayanad, wild edible plants.