Ethnobotanical Study of Kahuta from Rawalpindi District Pakistan

Sohail Jamil Qureshi and Mir Ajab Khan

A study was conducted in Kahuta to enlist the medicinal plants. The inhabitants of the area have to use the medicinal plants for various purposes and have for a long time been dependent on surrounding plant resources for their food, shelter, fodder`s, health, care and other cultural purposes. However changes in their life styles are responsible for the decrease of practice in the local use of herbs for medicine. It is, therefore, felt worth while to record the native uses of these plants before the information is to be lost. In total 25 species of herbs belonging to 18 families were recorded, used medicinally by inhabitants of the area . Some of the most interesting and representative plants of the area are : Cyperus rotundas L. which is mainly used for cholera ,dyspepsia and fevers. Saussuoria heteromala D. Don is used as a tonic for animals . The oil of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Merrill is externally applied to cure herpes and eczema .Leaves of Euphorbia helioscopia L. are given to cure mad dogs . Boerhavia diffusa Linn.is useful for jaundice and liver complaints .

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