ABSTRACT
A rapid ethnobotanical inventory was undertaken in Laos in six Medicinal Plant/Biodiversity Preserves (MPPs/MBPs) and in one protected forest: Oudomxay MBP, Luang Prabang MBP, Xieng Khouang MBP, Bolikhamxay MPP, Savannakhet MBP, Sekong MBP, and the Dong Natat Protected Forest. The process consisted of interviewing a widely acclaimed healer within a community (village) located in the vicinity of the preserve, recording and documenting information provided by the healer, collecting, and taxonomically identifying the voucher herbarium specimens. A total of 336 medicinal plant collections was made from one MPP, 5 MBPs, and one protected forest, comprising 279 taxa of which 274 (98.2%) represent angiosperms, 1.1% gymnosperms (three species of Gnetum), and 0.7% pteridophytes. Of the angiosperms, 251 species (91.6%) comprise dicots and 23 species (8.4%) monocots. The most common diseases treated were “pain” and afflictions related to pain (55 herbarium records), digestive system-related afflictions (45 herbarium records), female-related afflictions (37 herbarium records), rheumatism and joint pain-related afflictions (36 herbarium records), fever and fever-related afflictions (34 herbarium records), and skin-related afflictions (25 herbarium records). The least mentioned body afflictions or diseases treated were metabolic diseases (4 herbarium records), eye (vision) afflictions (4 herbarium records), polio and paralysis afflictions (4 herbarium records), tooth-related afflictions (4 herbarium records), and treatment of the thyroid gland (3 herbarium records). The most common method for preparing and using the plant or the medicine is to boil the plant material, cool the liquid (a decoction), and drink it “as needed.” A catalog of the collected plants and their medicinal uses is presented.
