Floristic Composition of Wetland Plants and Ethnomedicinal Plants of Wonchi District, South Western Shewa, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
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Date
2017-05
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Wetland ecosystems are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world and also are areas of high biodiversity. The study was undertaken to investigate the floristic composition of Wonchi Wetlands and traditional medicinal uses of plants in Wonchi District. For floristic data collection from plots of size 2 mx2 m (4 m2) were laid for estimation of cover abundance. Various techniques including semi-structured interview, group discussion and guided field walk were applied. These values were analyzed by using R software version 3.2.2. 50 plant species representing 45 genera and 23 families were recorded and all of them were herbaceous species. The family Asteraceae with 13 species was the dominant plant family followed by poaceae 9 species. Four community types were identified and these included Schoenoplectus corymbosus - Hygrophila auriculata community type, Persicaria setosula-Typha latifolia, Oenanthe palustris-Mentha aquatica and Alchemilla pedata- Sphaeranthus suaveolens. Sixty-eight (68) plant species distributed in 62 genera and 34 families were reported for their medicinal values. The most commonly used plant families were Lamiaceae represented by the highest number of species (9, 13.23%) followed by Asteraceae (8, 11.76%). Of the 68 medicinal plant species identified (48, 70.6%) were reported for used against human ailments, (14, 20.62%) were reported to treat livestock ailments and (6, 8.8%) to treat both human and livestock ailments. Herbs were most frequently reported (37, 53.7%) species followed by shrubs (17, 25.4%) and trees were (12, 17.9%) species. The most utilized plant parts were leaves (45, 66%) followed by roots (12, 17.64%). Oral route was the dominant route of administering herbal preparations (38, 55.9%) followed by dermal (20, 29.4%), nasal (8, 11.8%) and optical (2, 3%). The most important factors influencing the plant species composition of wetland plants are anthropogenic impacts followed by high population density of the district. Therefore, special attention should be given in the future management and conservation for sustainable use of wetland resources as well as medicinal plants of the study area.
Key Words: Ethnobotany, Wonchi, Wetland, Medicinal plants
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Keywords
Ethnobotany, Wonchi, Wetland, Medicinal plants