Diversity of Medicinal Plants in Tahtay Koraro Wereda, North Ethiopia

Study of medicinal plants diversity in church-based forests was conducted between October 2013 and April 2014, in Tahtary Koraro Wereda, NorthwesternTigray, Ethiopia. The study employed ethnobotanical methods including semi-structured interviews, field observations, preference ranking, paired comparisons and informant consensus. A total of 64 informants from 8 Kebeles (8 informants from each Kebele) were selected purposely. 28 key informants were selected with the help of local administrators, recommendations from elders, and members of the local community. A total of 102 medicinal plants were collected and identified. These species represented 93 genera and 53 families. The family Fabaceae with 10 species (9.8%), Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae with 8 species (7.9%) and 5 species (4.9) respectively were commonly used medicinal plants in the study area. From the total of 102 medicinal plants, 79 species were used to treat human ailments for 44 health problems, 15 species were used to 16 livestock health problems and the remaining 8 species were used to treat both humans and livestock diseases. Shrubs were the most used plants' growth forms, accounting for 38 species (37.22%), herbs.