Consultation > Par auteur > Pongamornkul Wittaya

An ethnobotanical study was conducted to investigate the uses of plants by the Pwo Karen in Om Koi District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. The seven villages were chosen to make the study during October 2014 to September 2015. The key informants (elderly and local herbalists) were interviewed including vernacular name, usages and used parts of the plants, and how to use them. The plant specimens were collected and identified at the species level by using taxonomic literature, compared with the specimens in the Herbarium of Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden (QSBG), and were prepared for herbarium. A total of 192 species distributed in 171 genera which belonged to 91 families were recorded. The used plants were classified into 6 groups according to their uses, i.e. medicine (85 species), food (93 species), food additive (16 species), material (18 species), social uses (15 species), and other uses (19 species). The most encountered used plant families were the Fabaceae (10.41 %), the Euphorbiaceae and Asteraceae (4.68 % of each familie), the Lamiaceae, Moraceae and Zingiberaceae (4.17% of each familie). Species of particular interest in this study included "De ber du" (Justicia sp.) and "Wan du mai" (Elsholtzia beddomei C.B.Clarke ex Hook.f.) used for food additives, "Ta na sa" (Saraca cf.thaipingensis Cantley ex Prain) of which the seed is edible, both of edible and food additives plants used (above plants) are widely recognized and used by Karen in this area, "Ko kui sa" (Garcinia sp.), "Ta si ko" (Osyris lanceolata Hochst. Steudel ex A.DC. ex A.DC.) and "Pu kwai mi" (Asparagus filicinus Buch.- Ham.ex D.Don) used for digestive disorders, these plants are interesting to study and develop for local medicine.