Ethnobotanical significance of the flora of upper Guernsey and lower Guernsey regions in coonoor, the upper Nilgiris, Tamil nadu

A survey was conducted to collect information regarding medicinal and traditional uses of the plant resources from the study areas Upper Guernsey and Lower Guernsey Regions in Coonoor, Nilgiri District, and Tamil Nadu. 154 plant species belonging to 118 genera and 63 families. Among them 134 Dicotyledons (87%) and 20 Monocotyledons (13%) comprising 63 families. In dicotyledons Polypetalae, Gamopetalae and Monochlamydeae are represented by (59, 46&29) species. A fairly good number of 98 species about 64 % in this floristic list are recognized as ethno-medicinally valued. The dominant families in the study area which are used by Kurumba herbal healers are Asteraceae represented by 16 species, Geraniaceae represented by 6 species, Liliaceae represented by 5 species, Solanaceae, Polygonaceae and Lamiaceae each are represented by 4 species respectively. Majority of the medicines prepared by the medicinal plants were taken in raw, paste, powdered, decoction and infusion. In some cases, either fruit, leaves, stem or flowers are used as medicine