Documentation of Ethno-medicinal Plants used in the treatment of Malaria, Fever and Headache by the Garo Community of West Garo Hills District, Meghalaya.

ABSTRACTThe Garo hills districts in Meghalaya persistently contributed most on malarial attributable deaths. The research on documentation of ethnomedicinal uses for the treatment of malaria, fever and headache was conducted in West Garo hills district of Meghalaya during the year 2014-2016. Sources revealed that the West Garo hills district is co-endemic for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but Plasmodium falciparum was the predominant infection (> 82%). The study has documented 20 medicinal plant species belonging to 16 families. The study based on the plant parts used reveals that roots (40%) were most commonly used in the treatment, followed by leaves and barks (35%), whole plant (10%) and seeds having (5%). In the study trees (50%) were recorded to have highly used potential followed by herbs (30%), shrubs (15%) and climbing shrubs (5%). Keywords: Ethnomedicine; Malevolent spirits; Oja: West Garo Hills; Meghalaya.