ABSTRACT
Madagascar has a very rich plant diversity with an unparalleled degree of endemicity and a wealth of ethnomedical heritage. More than 80% of the estimated 13,000 species are endemic to the island, and nearly 5000 species have ethnomedical uses (Rasoanaivo, 2000). These ethnobotanical data have been accumulated over several centuries in a dynamic process, the first written document dating back to the 1600s (Flacourt, 1642). In particular events such as epidemics that occurred in some regions at a given time, the population resorted to the methods of healing within its reach, and in certain ways has combined methods and therapeutic resources from traditional and modern medicine.
