Author(s):

Mulugeta Kebebew

Abstract: From time immemorial, plants have been an indispensable source of both preventive and curative medicinal preparations for human beings. Medicinal use is one of the services that plants provide for human welfare. The practice of traditional medicine is common in Ethiopia although it is not utterly studies and documented. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants was conducted in and around Fincha'a town, Western Ethiopia from September 2013 to August 2014. This study documents indigenous medicinal plant and utilization system. Ethnobotanical data were collected using semi structured interviews and field observations. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using MS-Excel 2010. The ethno-medicinal use of 120 plant species belonging to 85 genera and 52 families were documented in the study area. The highest family in terms of species number is Fabaceae. Herbs were dominant (30%) flora followed by shrubs (28.33%). Most of the medicinal species (52.7%) were collected from the wild. Most of the plants (60.2%) were reportedly used to treat human diseases. The most frequently used plant part were leaves (34.68%), followed by roots (23.39%). Fresh plant parts were used mostly (53.3%) followed by dried (29.3%) and the remaining (17.4%) either in fresh or dried. Among the preparations, pounding was the dominant (34.1%) form followed by powdering (13.29%). The remedial administration was mostly oral (54.91%) followed by dermal (30.64%). Documenting the eroding plants and associated indigenous knowledge can be used as a basis for developing management plans for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in the area.

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