ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES OF PLANTS OF SIX LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The inventory of plants used in the treatment and management of diseases in traditional medicine is of utmost
importance in environment where access to orthodox medicine is limited. Such communities therefore depend on
Plants and plant products as means of healthcare. The study aimed at documenting folklore plants used in six Local
Government Areas of Plateau State, Nigeria. Information from respondents on plants used as aphrodisiacs, in the
treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases in Six Local Government Areas of Plateau State of Nigeria (Jos
South, Jos East, Langtang South, Langtang North, Bokkos and Mangu) were obtained, using semi-structured
questionnaires. In total fifty-nine species from twenty-eight families were identified in this study. Seven, twenty and
thirty-seven recipes were obtained for aphrodisiacs, infectious and non-infectious diseases respectively. Fadogia
agrestics and Loudetia phragmitoides were mainly mentioned in the aphrodisiac recipes while members of the
Fabaceae family were mostly mentioned as part of the recipes used in these studied areas in the treatment of both
infectious and non-infectious diseases. This study has been able to provide document for the plants used in Jos
South, Jos East, Langtang South, Langtang North, Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas as aphrodisiacs and
in the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases.