ABSTRACT
Wild chimpanzees in Uganda are known to ingest medicinal plants during various sicknesses; the same has been observed for wooly spider monkeys in Brazil. Interestingly, at least a good proportion of the medicinal plants believed to be ingested by chimpanzees or wooly spider monkeys were also used by humans residing in or near the same forests for what appeared to be similar therapeutic purposes. This chapter covers some medicinal plants used by the tribal people of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has perhaps over 100 large and small tribes within its borders, and it is a longstanding debate among the anthropologists about the number of tribes, and whether the tribes are indigenous or recent arrivals. The phytotherapeutic practices of tribal healers can vary widely; often two tribal or folk medicine healers in adjoining villages (or paras) will use different plant(s) to treat the same ailment.
