Aquatic and Marshland Dye Yielding Plants and Their Ethno-Medicinal Uses From Jhargram District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Jhargram district is famous for its unique geographic location resulting into amalgamation of rich cultural and traditional aspects from different societies, castes, creed, and beliefs. The philosophy of use and conservation of medicinal and the dye yielding plants has evolved with the social and cultural groups of human beings. During survey 15 dye yielding plants belonging to 10 families were identified which are distributed in various aquatic and marshy places of Jhargram district. The dyeing parts of the plants are used by the local ethnic communities for various domestic purposes. People of different ethnic group of this district used these plants for the treatment of various human ailments. It has been known that these natural dyes are not harmful and eco-friendly. The present investigation focus about the intensive studies that have been conducted for documentation of the traditional knowledge and to assess the distributional pattern and present status of medicinally used dye yielding plants of this district. Conservation and judicious utilization of dye yielding plants is an urgent need for protection and preservation of biodiversity in this region.