Abstract:
An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used to treat human ailments by local people in Sebeta Hawas District; Oromiya Regional State was conducted from October 2016 to September2017. Semi-structured interviews, field observations and various ranking and comparison methods were employed and information was collected from a sample of 48 informants (14 females and 3 4 males). These included 8 key and 40 randomly selected informants. A total of 56 plant species were collected, and all of them were claimed to be traditional medicinal plants. The Lamiaceae, which contributed 7 (12.50%) species, stood first followed by Fabaceae, Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae with 6, 5 and 4 species respectively Most of the species (36) were collected from the wild while 12 were collected from homegardens. A total of 56 species were mentioned for the treatment of 34 human ailments. Herbs were the most used plants, accounting for 26 (46.42%) species, followed by shrubs, trees and climbers. The most frequently used plant part was the leaves (53.57%) and fresh plant materials (53.57%). The common route medicine administration were oral (57.14%), followed by dermal and nasal. Some of the remedies are taken with additives and solvents including water (39%), honey (21%) and butter (13%). The most widely used method of preparation was crushing (23.21%) chewing (19.64%) followed by pounding (16%). The most commonly used application of medicinal plant was drinking (19.64%) followed by eating (12.5%) and put on (8.92%).Medicinal plants with higher informant consensus included Ruta chalepensis,Citrus limon and Cymbopogon citratus, while the disease category with the highest ICF value (0.96) was fibril illness.
