Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Yeki District and Its Environs, Southwestern Ethiopia 

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Overexploitation of medicinal plants coupled with ever-increasing population growth, deforestation and agricultural land expansion threatens plants in the area. Hence, the study aims to documents indigenous medicinal plant utilization, management and the threats affecting them. Methodology Both systematic random and purposive sampling were used to select general respondents (130) and key informants (30) respectively. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, guided field walk, preference ranking and paired comparison. Standard ethnobotanical tools, including preference ranking, pair-wise comparison, ICF, FL, direct matrix ranking, and the Chi-square test using R software, were applied for analysis. Result A total of 102 medicinal plants, belonging to 57 families were identified. Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceaerepresented by eleven and five species each were identified as the leading families. Herbs contributed the most (45.1%) to the growth forms followed by shrubs (21.57%). Out of the total medicinal plants, 58 species (56.86%) were collected from the wild, 24 were obtained from home garden, and 20 species were from both home garden and wild habitats. Fresh leaves of the plants were parts that are used most frequently in the area. The highest ICF value (0.91) was recorded for dermal problem categories. The majority of medicinal plants (65.69%) were used to treat human ailments, whereas 10.78% were used to treat livestock ailments, and 23.53% were used to treat both human and livestock ailments. Agricultural expansion was the major threat to medicinal plants, followed by grazing. Conclusion The current study underscores the intricate relationship between the local community and medicinal plants, emphasizing the critical role of biodiversity conservation in sustaining healthcare practices and ecosystem health. The findings contribute to the development of sustainable conservation strategies, the preservation of traditional knowledge, and emphasize the interdependence between human societies and their natural environments. Community-based conservation efforts, involving active participation from local populations and relevant institutions, are vital for the sustainable use and preservation of medicinal plant species and their habitats. Raising public awareness about the sustainable harvesting of exploited medicinal plants and establishing botanical gardens will safeguard these resources, contributing to both environmental protection and socioeconomic development. Ailments herbs home garden Yeki Informant consensus factor medicinal plants threat Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 1. Introduction The Ethiopian flora is estimated to contain 5757 species of higher plants of which about 10% are endemic [ 1 ] having a lot contribution for traditional medicine. Ethiopia is also a home to many languages, cultures and beliefs that in turn have contributed to the high diversity of traditional knowledge and practices of the people in using medicinal plants. Traditional medicine still remains the main resources for a large majority (80%) of the people in Ethiopia for treating health problems [ 2 ]. However, the knowledge of medicinal plant use is yet incomplete because there has not been a total inventory of medicinal plants that have been traditionally known to indigenous people [ 3 ]. In addition to environmental degradation, deforestation, agricultural expansion, over exploitation and population growth is the principal threat to medicinal plants in Ethiopia [ 4 , 5 ]. Knowledge about traditional medicine is transferred secretly from generation to generation orally especially in countries like Ethiopia [ 6 ] as there is little accessibility to written documents and records on medicinal plants. Southwest Ethiopian forests are home to various ecosystem services including forest coffee, honey, spices, construction materials, and ritual services. Intimate human-forest interactions occur due to the high degree of dependence on these forest-based ecosystem services. These forests are believed to be the origin and primary center of diversity of Coffee arabica where it is still grown in the wild and contains a highly diverse gene pool [ 7 ]. However, many of these forests have already been converted to agricultural landscapes, or the remnant forests are managed to produce semi-forest coffee, and a more intensive garden and plantation coffee systems [ 8 – 10 ]. New investment opportunities in south-western Ethiopia are converting these remnant forests into other land uses such as tea and coffee plantation [ 10 ]. This Region is suffering habitat and species loss due to continued deforestation and over usage of medicinal plants as well as loss of associated knowledge and little has been done to document ethnobotanical knowledge which is basic for conservation activity [ 11 ]. Although limited ethnobotanical research has been conducted in the southwest region of Ethiopia [ 11 – 14 ], our study aimed to explore areas that have not been previously covered, focusing on Yeki District and its environs, known for their diverse cultural backgrounds. A comprehensive ethnobotanical study in Yeki District and surrounding is essential to document and analyze the traditional knowledge and practices of the local people focusing on medicinal plants for the treatment of human and livestock ailments, contributing to the utilization and preservation of biodiversity. Moreover, comparing the findings of this study with the Ethiopian ethnobotanical medicinal plant database will provide valuable insights into the regional distribution and utilization of medicinal plants, further enriching our understanding of Ethiopia’s remarkable traditional plant-based healthcare system. In view of this, the present study aims to (i) collect, identify, and document traditional medicinal plants used by the local people of Yeki District and its environs for the treatment of human and livestock ailments (ii) identify plant parts used to treat diseases, method of preparation and route of administration as implemented in the study area (iii) identify major threats of medicinal plants of the study area. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Description of the Study Area The ethnobotanical study involved the diverse ethnic group residing in Yeki district and the surrounding. From Yeki district part of Sheka zone 10 kebeles and the surrounding, Metti, Giz Meret and Kubito kebeles, which is the part of Godere, Sheko and Anderacha districts, respectively (Fig. 1 ). Yeki woreda and its surroundings lies in the highland areas of the Southwestern Ethiopia that constitutes the upper catchments of several important rivers, such as Baro, Akobo and Omo rivers. The woreda and its surrounding areas are characterized by a vast forest cover. The dominant indigenous tree species in the forest include Cordia africana , Polyscias fulva , Pouteria adolfi-friedericii , Schefflera abyssinica , Croton macrostachyus , Prunus Africana , and Olea welwitschii . Agricultural practices are the main livelihood sources for the majority of the inhabitants. Individual income-scoring results showed that wild coffee is by far the dominant, the only other used for cash income being honey, smaller quantities of which are sold by some households. In addition, cardamom, black pepper (‘timiz’), and timber for houses, farm tools, fencing and ladders are also common non timber forest products but mostly for home consumption and they are important sources of cash income [ 15 ]. 2.2. Sampling techniques Reconnaissance survey of the study area was conducted in order to familiarize with the study area and for determining the sample sites. Prior to any contact with the local people, the objectives of the research were addressed during the survey for the district administrator to get permission and legal identity letter in order to obtain support from Kebele administrators and local people in relation to the research to make feasible data collection process. Some key informants were also identified and selected during the survey. Sample sites of the area were selected purposively based on vegetation availability and occurrence of residents and previous studies coverage. Following [ 16 ], each Kebele was given equal probability and 10 general informants per kebele were selected using systematic random sampling with a total of 130 informants. When selecting the general informants, great care was given that each informant had to belong at different households. In addition, 40 key informants were selected purposively based on the recommendations of local authorities, elders, and religious leaders. 2.3. Data collection technique Semi- structured interviews were prepared and used as guide following [ 16 , 17 ]. Ethnobotanical data collection through semi-structured interview was performed on the basis of check list item questions that prepared in English and later translated to local languages, such as Shekkacho, Sheko, Majang and other languages accordingly. Key informants were first interviewed individually to mention about types of human and livestock ailments in the study area, the local names of the plants they use to treat diseases, diseases treated, part(s) of plants used, methods of gathering, methods of preparation of remedies, route of administration of remedies, application of the remedies, side effects of the treatment, use of the plants other than medicine, types of threat and conservation problems. Focus group discussion was conducted two times with the most knowledgeable ones suggested by respective kebele elders and administrators about the status of the distribution, threats and conservation attempt of traditional medicinal plants. They were interacted face to face and actively discuss on the distribution, threats and conservation in order to share information about status of medicinal plants. Guided field walk was used for specimen collection and recording at spot while the interview is undergoing and gives time to observe and discuss parts of plant harvesting or patterns of plant distribution (Fig. 2 ). Medicinal plants were collected and recorded from wild and cultivated areas with their local names, habits and place of collection. The collected voucher specimens were taken to the National Herbarium of Ethiopia (ETH) and identified using various volumes of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea and recorded specimen in National Herbarium. 2.4. Data analysis The collected ethnobotanical data was analyzed following survey and analytical tools for ethnobotanical methods, which was recommended by [ 16 , 18 ]. Descriptive statistical methods were employed to analyze and summarize the data on medicinal plants and associated knowledge obtained from informants of the study area, such as percentage and/or frequency of species, genera and families of ethnobotanical medicinal plants, their growth forms, proportion of plant parts harvested, mode of remedy preparation and routes of administration; and graphs were visualized using R-software (R Core Team, 2023, package ggplot2). The Informant consensus factor (ICF) was calculated for categories of ailments to identify the agreements of the informants on the reported cures using the formula. ICF= \(\:\frac{nur-nt\:}{nur-1}\:\) (1), ICF-informants consensus factor, nur- number of use citation in each category, nt = number of species used. The relative healing potential of medicinal plants was estimated using an index referred to as fidelity level (FL) based on the proportion of informants who agreed on its use against a given ailment category, which was calculated using fidelity level following [ 19 ] using a formula; FL= \(\:\frac{Np}{N}\times\:100\) (2), Np is the number of informant that claims a use of plant species claimed to treat particular disease and N is the number of informants that used the plant to treat any given disease. Furthermore, preference (priority) ranking was performed using seven key informants for most medicinal plants used to prevent the most prevalent disease in the study area. Accordingly, seven medicinal plants were chosen to be ranked preferentially by key informants on the bases of preventing wound using a numerical scale (0 for no value, 1 for lowest value and 7 the highest value, and the rest with intermediate values). Values given by the key informants were added to identify the ranks of medicinal plants preference by the community in the study area. To test consistency of the relationships of preferences and transitivity of results, pair wise matrix of six that are acclaimed to treat diarrhea ranked using paired comparison based on their efficacy following [ 16 ]. The possible number of pairs for each value was calculated using a formula; No. of pairs= \(\:\frac{n\:(n-1)}{2}\) (3), n is number of items (species). Chi-square test was computed to identify the number of medicinal plant species and associated uses reported general informants. Similarly, it was also used to identify the indigenous knowledge variation of males and females on the numbers of medicinal plant species and associated uses they mentioned. The ages of the informants were grouped into 20–41 (younger informants) 42–63 (middle age informants) and > 64 (elder informants). Therefore, the variation in the numbers of medicinal plant species and associated uses reported within the age and sex groups were computed with Chi-square test. 3. Results Demographic features of the informants From the total of 130 general informants, the majority (90) were males and 40 females with marital status of 100, 22 and 8 married, divorced and single respectively within age range of 20–85. From the total 40 key informants, 31 were males, and 9 were females (Table 1 ). Table 1 Respondents demographic characteristics of Yeki district and its environs Attr/Resp. Demographic characteristics of the respondents Age Group Gender Total Male Female General informants 20–41 29 16 45 42–63 42 20 62 64–85 19 4 23 Key informants 20–41 6 1 7 42–63 16 5 21 64–85 9 3 12 Educational status general informants Illiterate 47 27 74 Literate 43 13 56 Educational status of Key informants Illiterate 16 6 22 Literate 15 3 18 Marital status of general informants Single 7 1 8 Married 68 32 100 Divorced 15 7 22 Marital status of key informants Single 2 1 3 Married 26 6 32 Divorced 3 2 5 3.1. Taxonomic diversity of medicinal plants A total of 102 traditional medicinal plant species belonging to 86 genera and 57 families were recorded in the study area. Herbs accounted for higher proportion (46, 45.1%) followed by shrubs which accounts (22, 21.57%) of the total plant population (Fig. 3 ). From the total medicinal plants most of the species are indigenous (72.55%) followed by introduced species (20.58%) and the remaining endemic (6.86%) to flora of Ethiopia (Table S1 ). The most popular family was Asteraceae had high proportion of medicinal plant species (eleven species) followed by Fabaceae and Lamiaceae (five species each). Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae were represented by four species each. Other species such as; Brassicaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrsinaceae, Ranunclaceae and Rutaceae were represented by three species each; while Alliaceae, Amaranthaceae, Boraginaceae, Moraceae, Piperaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Tiliaceae, Verbanaceae and Zingiberaceae were represented by two species each. However, the remaining Families were represented by only one species (Fig. 4, Table S1 ). Of the total collected medicinal plants species, most of them (58) were collected from the wild, 24 were obtained from home garden (cultivated near or around a household., where they are used also as food or purely for medicinal purposes or both), and 20 species were from both home garden and wild habitats (Table S1 ). 3.2. Plant parts used and condition of remedy preparations Results revealed that greater proportion of parts of the plant for medicinal values was leaves (28.7%) followed by roots (19.59%). Despite mentioning many plant parts being used for remedy preparation, some of the preparations were from stem and bark, leaf and seed, bulb and leaf, twig, and stolen (0.52% each) were plant parts with list percentage used as medicinal values (Fig. 5 ). Of the total remedies, 71.9% were prepared using freshly collected plant parts. Additionally, 12.2% were made from a combination of fresh and/or dried parts, while the remaining 16.8% were exclusively prepared from dried plant materials. 3.3. Administration route and preparation of plant remedies Once the medicinal valued plants were collected and make ready, the administration was applied through eight routes. Nevertheless, most of the remedies (61.11%) were administered through oral routes followed by dermal routes (27.27%) and nasal routes (5.05%). While the list administration route of plant remedies was applied through nasal, oral and dermal which accounts 0.51% (Table S2). Indigenous people of the study district practiced different types of remedy preparation methods. From these remedy preparation methods, pounding was the main method of preparation (40.4%) followed by firing and fumigating and directly take the plant parts (unprocessed) which accounts 8.1% each. While, ash, roosted and infusion form of remedy preparations of medicinal plants were the list preparation methods that accounts (0.5%) each out of the total method of remedy preparations (Table 2 ). Table 2 Mode of preparation of medicinal plants with their relative percentage Types of preparations Number of Plant preparation Percentages (%) Pounding 80 41.88 Unprocessed 16 8.38 Firing and fumigating 16 8.38 Decoction 15 7.85 Chewing 13 6.81 Boiling 11 5.76 Creaming 11 5.76 Powdering 10 5.24 Boiling and fumigation 7 3.66 Latex collection 4 2.09 Sniff 3 1.57 Grounding 2 1.05 Ash 1 0.52 Roosted 1 0.52 Infusion 1 0.52 3.4. Efficacy of medicinal plants Informant consensus of nine most frequently listed plant species showed that Croton macrostachyus is the most significant medicinal plant with 73.5% informant agreement. The second most significant medicinal plant with 68.2% consensus was Withania somnifera (Table 3 ). Table 3 Informant consensus on ten most frequently used MPs Scientific name Diseases acclaimed to be treated No. of Reports Percentage Rank Withania somnifera Itch, Evil eye and evil sprite Cough, Pneumonia, Tape worm Hemorrhoids 116 68.2 2nd Eucalyptus globulus Cold sores, Febrile illness, Common cold, cough 112 65.9 4th Croton macrostachyus Typhoid, Intestinal, parasite Tuberculosis, Hemorrhoids Gonorrhea, Spleeno megally Ringworm, Dermatophilosis Eczema 125 73.5 1st Brucea antidysenterica Hepatitis, Madness/mental disease Lice, Diarrhea, Bloody diarrhea Anthrax, Ascaris 36 21.2 6th Justicia schimperiana Hepatitis, Rabies, Dandruff Intestinal parasites, Evil eye 20 11.8 9th Moringa stenopetala Asthma, Common cold, Hypertension, diabetes mellitus 114 67.1 3rd Zingiber officinale Stomachache, Stomachache Cough, Eye disease 52 30.6 5th Cucumis ficifolius Eczema, Snake Bite, Asthma Bloody diarrhea, Evil eye, Rheumatism, Tumor, Intestinal Parasite, Diarrhea 35 20.6 7th Ruta chalepensis Evil eye, Stomachache, diarrhea 27 15.9 8th Results revealed 100% fidelity level for the following plants; Grewia trichocarpa for tonsillitis; Allophylus abyssinicus for diarrhea; Mukia maderaspatana, Bidens pilosa, Plantago lanceolata and Urera hypselodendron for wound; Achyranthes aspera for cold sores; Polygala abyssinica for stomachache; Cyperus rigidifolius and Vernonia auriculifera for snake bite and Indigofera spicata for febrile illness (Table 4 ). Table 4 Fidelity value of traditional medicinal plants for the most frequently reported diseases Disease treated Medicinal plants Np N FL (%) Tonsillitis Grewia trichocarpa 7 7 100 Kalanchoe petitiana 15 28 53.6 Acmella caulirhiza 26 32 81.3 Rhamnus prinoides 32 115 27.8 Rumex nepalensis 12 22 54.5 Ficus sur 11 98 11.2 Diarrhea Cucumis ficifolius 33 135 24.4 Ruta chalepensis 78 175 44.6 Brucea antidysenterica 23 65 35.4 Linum usitatissimum 86 102 84.3 Gomphocarpus fruticosus 5 7 71.4 Allophylus abyssinicus 15 15 100 Wound Mukia maderaspatana 3 3 100 Bidens pilosa 4 4 100 Coffee Arabica 3 10 30 Aloe kefaensis 4 6 66.7 Carissa spinarum 7 16 43.8 Plantago lanceolate 2 2 100 Solanum anguivi 65 76 85.5 Brassica nigra 79 222 35.6 Urera hypselodendron 1 1 100 Cold sores Eucalyptus globulus 46 76 60.5 Ocimum lamiifolium 6 15 40 Achyranthes aspera 6 6 100 Echinops hispidus 9 35 25.7 Nicotiana tabacum 11 21 52.4 Salvia nilotica 6 32 18.8 Stomachache Ruta chalepensis 23 165 13.9 Acmella caulirhiza 32 72 44.4 Bersama abyssinica 37 131 28.2 Polygala abyssinica 10 10 100 Zingiber officinale 72 111 64.9 Kalanchoe petitiana 43 66 65.2 Allium sativum 66 166 39.8 Snake bite Carissa spinarum 78 200 39 Cyperus rigidifolius 3 3 100 Cucumis ficifolius 8 135 5.9 Vernonia auriculifera 2 2 100 Febrile illness Eucalyptus globulus 11 35 31.4 Indigofera spicata 2 2 100 Echinops hispidus 3 15 20 Ocimum lamiifolium 4 14 28.6 Preference ranking on the seven plants acclaimed to treat wound was done and Aloe kefanis was found the most useful medicinal plant to treat wound while Brassica nigra had lower value (Table 5 ). Table 5 Simple preference ranking for 7 MPs wound (7 = most preferred, 1 = least preferred). Species name Key informants Total Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bidens pilosa 5 4 6 4 5 7 6 7 4 5 53 2nd Aloe kefanis 6 5 3 5 6 7 7 6 7 4 56 1st Carissa spinarum 4 3 5 3 5 3 2 3 3 1 32 6th Urera hypselodendron 4 6 2 4 2 5 5 3 3 6 40 4th Plantgo lanceolata 7 4 5 7 1 2 3 4 2 4 39 5th Solamm anguivi 3 2 4 5 7 6 6 4 7 2 46 3rd Brassica nigra 3 3 4 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 27 7th Pair wise comparison was done for five most frequently listed species acclaimed to treat diarrhea based on efficacy. The analysis indicated that Brucea antidysenterica was the most important traditional medicinal plant to treat diarrhea followed by Linum usitatissimum while Allophylus abyssinicus was the least significant plant from the six species (Table 6 ). Table 6 Paired comparison and ranking of the six most cited medicinal plants for treating diarrhea by key Informants (I1-I8) Plant species Key Informants(I1-I8) Total Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ruta chalepensis 5 4 3 1 2 4 5 4 28 3rd Brucea antidysenterica 5 3 5 4 3 3 3 4 30 1st Allophylus abyssinicus 3 4 3 3 4 2 3 2 24 6th Linum usitatissimum 2 3 3 5 3 5 4 4 29 2nd Verbena officinalis 3 2 4 4 2 3 5 3 26 5th Cucumis ficifolius 5 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 27 4th The possible pairs are: 6(6 − 1)/2 = 15.the pairs are (R,B),(R,A), (R,L), (R,V), (R,C), (B,A), (B,L),(B,V),(B,C),(A,L),(A,V), (A,C),(L,V),(L,C),(V,C); Where: A( Allophylus abyssinicus ); B( Brucea antidysenterica) , R( Ruta halepensis ); L( Linum usitatissimum); V( Verbena officinalis) ; C( Cucumis ficifolius) Diseases were divided into twelve disease categories and informant consensus factor was calculated for those disease categories. The result showed that 0.91 (91%) of ICF was linked to problems associated with dermal disease followed by organ disease 0.9 (90%). However disease caused by poison venom and non-communicable disease such as; hypertension, diabetes, cancer and tumor had the least ICF value 0.33 and 0.36 (33% and 36%) respectively as compared to other disease categories (Table 7 ). This result revealed the presence of higher information exchange between the communities in the district about medicinal plants. Table 7 ICF values of MPs for twelve categories of frequently reported diseases Disease categories Nt Nur ICF value Gastrointestinal infection (stomachache, intestinal parasites, gastritis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, constipation) 16 93 0.84 Disease caused by Arthropods( leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, herpes zoster) 2 10 0.89 Disease caused by Helminthes (taeniasis, schistosomiasis, ascariasis) 4 14 0.77 Non communicable disease (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, tumor) 10 15 0.36 Dermal disease (wound, dandruff, wart, eczema, scabies, skin infection, acne vulgaris, dermatophilosis, fire burn, fungal disease, head wound, hemorrhoid, skin irritation, lice) 26 266 0.91 Spiritual disease (evil sprite, evil eye) 7 18 0.65 Respiratory disease (asthma, cough, pneumonia, tonsillitis) 13 45 0.73 Microbial disease (viral infection, typhoid, amoeba, malaria, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, common cold) 18 86 0.8 Organ diseases (toothache, earache, eye disease, headache, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, hepatitis, nephritis) 17 166 0.90 Poison (Snake Bite, Spider venom) 5 7 0.33 Livestock diseases (anthrax, blackleg, retained placenta, bloat, calf diarrhea, botch, leaches, rabies) 16 25 0.38 Emergency disease (spleeno megally, rheumatism, memory loss, febrile illness, cold sores, edema, ,body pain, madness, hemorrhage) 14 42 0.68 3.5. Number and type of aliments and associated traditional medicinal plants From the total recorded medicinal plants, majority 67 (65.69%) of the species were listed as remedies for human ailments followed by species for the treatment of both human and livestock ailments 24 (23.53%) and few plant species 11 (10.78%) for only livestock ailments. These medicinal plants were claimed to be used for the treatment of 48 types of human health problems, 9 types of livestock ailments and 14 types of both human and livestock aliments with a total of 71 health problems. From the total health problems, wound was acclaimed to be treated by highest number of plant species (10 species) followed by tonsillitis and diarrhea (8 species) each (Fig. 6 ). Among the medicinal plant species used by local communities to treat different ailments Cucumis ficifoliusis was used to treat high number (10) followed by Croton macrostachyus which accounts (9) ailments (Fig. 7 ). 3.6. Variation of Indigenous Plant Knowledge among age and sex groups Three age groups were identified during data collection and compared their knowledge and experience regarding to the uses of plants as medicinal purposes. Accordingly, the respondents whose age interval within the ranges of above 64 years were more knowledgeable and report higher number of species as compared to other age groups. There is a variation of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants among respondents with sex groups. The result showed that more number of medicinal plants were reported by males than females which reveals that males has more knowledgeable than females about medicinal plants (Table 8 ). Table 8 Variation of indigenous plant knowledge among age and sex groups No. of medicinal plants reported Age groups Sex groups 20–41 42–63 > 64 Male Female 7–13 15 12 1 13 12 14–21 16 26 5 33 15 22–29 18 24 6 31 14 30–37 3 18 9 28 3 > 38 0 3 14 16 5 The Chi-square test also confirmed that, there was a significant difference on the number of medicinal plant species mentioned by different age groups and sexes, with the overall p-values of 0.0005 and 0.0269 respectively. It also shown that, there was a significant difference on the number of medicinal plant species mentioned by the two age groups (20–41and 42–63, 20-41and > 64 and 42–63 and > 64years) of informants and the respective uses they explained (Tables 8 and 9 ). Elders whose age were between 40 and 84 years noticed detailed descriptions and practical preparation techniques of medicinal plants. Table 9 Chi-square test of sex and age difference among respondents comparison raw.p adj.p 1 20–41 vs. 42–63 0.0250 0.0250 2 20–41 vs. >64 0.0001 0.0001 3 42–63 vs. >64 0.0001 0.0001 comparison raw.p adj.p 1 male vs. female 0.0269 0.0269 3.7. Threats of medicinal plants According to the report of key informants, the main threats to medicinal plants were agricultural expansion, construction activities, population growth, charcoal production, firewood collection, and grazing (Table 10 ). Table 10 Threats of medicinal plants (average score of 6 threats by 8 key informants) Threats of MPs Respondents R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total Rank AE 5 8 7 8 8 8 7 7 58 1st CO 6 4 3 5 4 3 5 6 36 6th PG 7 8 4 5 6 6 4 6 46 5th CP 6 5 7 7 8 8 8 6 55 3rd FW 5 7 7 8 6 5 8 5 51 4th GR 5 8 7 8 7 6 7 8 56 2nd Where: AE- agricultural expansion, CO- construction activities, PG-population growth, CP- charcoal production, FW- firewood collection, and GR- grazing. 4. Discussion The total of 102 medicinal plant species (7 endemic and 74 indigenous and 21 introduced) that are highly valued by the local population for treating both human and livestock ailments. It is comparable to those of [ 12 , 13 ]. This significant number underscores the vital role of herbal remedies in meeting the primary healthcare needs of the community. It also highlights the strong acceptance and reliance on traditional herbal medicine, particularly for conditions such as malaria, eye diseases, tonsillitis, snakebites, diarrhea, rabies, amoebiasis, and even perceived afflictions like the evil eye, which also reported in other studies by [ 11 ]. The growth form of medicinal plants in the study districts was dominated by herbs which aligned with other studies conducted in Ethiopia [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The dominance of herbs is attributed to variations in abundance and distribution across different growth forms of medicinal plants, as well as their relative abundance and ease of access for healers. The study area's consistently humid conditions throughout most of the year further promote herb growth, contributing to their prevalence [ 13 ]. Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae were notably abundant in the study area. The dominancy of Asteraceae in the study area is consistent with the other studies by [ 13 , 23 , 24 ] while the dominancy of Asteraceae and Fabaceae was similar with [ 25 ]. Such dominancy of families will be the result of highly medicinal value on curing different aliments and due to the dominancy of these families in Ethiopian flora, ranking third and first in the Ethiopian flora, respectively [ 26 ]. Even though wild habitats were found to be the major source of traditional medicinal plants, accounting for 56.86% of all reported species, a significant number of respondents conserve medicinal plants in home gardens (43.14%). The practice of cultivating medicinal plants in home gardens contributes to their sustainable use, and offers a promising strategy for ex-situ conservation [ 27 , 28 ]. The investigation also revealed that wild habitats are increasingly subjected to anthropogenic pressures, leading to their reduction in size. This is primarily driven by population growth, resulting in the loss of many medicinal species that depend on these natural habitats. This finding aligns with previous reports highlighting overreliance on wild habitats for harvesting medicinal plants [ 29 ]. From the plant parts leaves have highly medicinal values, which is similar with other studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. However the study of [ 29 , 33 ] showed that root have highly medicinal values other than leaves. The reason leaves have highly valuable for traditional medicine for different human and livestock ailments might be they are considered to have curative properties and their rich chemical composition. Many leaves contain bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids, which have been found to exhibit medicinal properties. These compounds can have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects, which may aid in the treatment of certain diseases [ 34 , 35 ]. In addition, collecting leaves doesn’t pose a great damage to the existence of an individual plant when compare to the other parts of plants especially underground stems. Rare species may be susceptible to local extinction due to over usage and pressure posed on its sensitive organ like root if care is not taken [ 11 ]. In the study area most of the remedies were prepared from fresh, dried and fresh and/or dried plant parts respectively. Similar results were documented in other studies [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. The reason why fresh condition of plant parts is widely used could be due to loss of volatile secondary metabolites when dried or cooked. The volatility property of the chemicals resulted to be evaporated after plants are cut and dried which lead the loss of active constitutes [ 39 , 40 ]. Information from informants indicated that, the plant parts used condition for medicinal preparation depended on the availability of the species, which is consistent with the result of [ 31 ]. For commonly available plants, informants used fresh specimens to prepare remedies for their patients. However, for rare and seasonally available plant species, they stored and used dried specimens. The livelihood of most traditional healers relies on fresh materials that have aggravated the decline of rare medicinal plants from the study area according to the informants. The modes of administration for medicinal plants were reported to vary depending on the method of preparation, the location of the ailment, and the type of disease being treated. Most of the prepared remedies were administered orally. The result agrees with the other studies carried out in different regions of Ethiopia [ 41 , 21 ]. Oral and dermal administration allows rapid physiological responses between prepared drugs and pathogens, enhancing their therapeutic potential. This may be because these pathways facilitate quicker interactions with the pathogen’s physiology, thereby boosting the healing effect [ 42 ]. The highest (0.91) Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) of the medicinal plants was associated with problems of dermal disease. It includes wound, dandruff, wart, eczema, scabies, skin infection, acne vulgaris, dermatophilosis, fire burn, fungal disease, head wound, hemorrhoid, skin irritation, lice. Organ diseases such as toothache, earache, eye disease, headache, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, hepatitis, nephritis had ICF value of 0.90. If plants are chosen randomly and there is no exchange of information about their use among informants, ICF values are low, near to zero, while when information is exchanged between informants or there is a well-defined selection criterion in the community, ICF approaches to one [ 43 ]. According to [ 44 ], when high degree of ICF is recorded, high ICF value was calculated for most of the traditional medicinal plants in this study and medicinal tradition is viewed as well-defined. Therefore, the result revealed the presence of higher information exchange between the communities in the district about medicinal plants. Moreover, the diseases could also encounter in most members of the community and people share indigenous knowledge to cure the common ailments. In addition, to ICF value showed that Croton macrostachyus (73.5%) had highly medicinal values for the disease; typhoid, intestinal parasite, tuberculosis, hemorrhoids gonorrhea, spleeno megally ringworm, dermatophilosis and eczema. As indicated by [ 45 ], informant consensus values provide a good indication of particular species used for specific health problems, as well as medicinal plants that address multiple health issues, which highlights the pharmacological significance of the medicinal plants in the area. The fidelity level (FL) of Grewia trichocarpa for tonsillitis; Allophylus abyssinicus for diarrhea; Plantago lanceolata , Mukia maderaspatana , Bidens pilosa and Urera hypselodendron for wound; Achyranthes aspera for cold sores; Polygala abyssinica for stomachache; Cyperus rigidifolius and Vernonia auriculifera for snake bite and Indigofera spicata for febrile illness showed 100% FL. As [ 11 , 46 ] indicates fidelity level of medicinal plants represents the relative healing potential of medicinal plants against a given ailment. In the current study, healing potential of most medicinal plants has relatively higher fidelity level values for treating human and livestock aliments. High FL indicates that, all use reports refer to the same way of using it, whereas low FLs are obtained for plants that are used for many different purposes. Plants with high FL values could be target species prioritized for conservation and management for sustainable use. The report of [ 47 ] showed that lower fidelity level indicates a given medicinal plant species could have more number of mentions by the informants than medicinal plant species that have high fidelity level. The analysis of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) variation in relation to both age and sex of informants revealed that older individuals, especially men, exhibited higher levels of knowledge about medicinal plants. Older informants (aged 42–63 and above 64) have had prolonged and regular contact with the forest and other natural plant resources, leading to greater experience and knowledge compared to younger and middle-aged informants. On the other hand, the younger generation is more influenced by modern education and therefore less inclined to learn and practice IK passed down from their parents. Furthermore, the current changes in vegetation within the study area may have an impact on the assessment carried out by the younger generation. This could potentially disrupt the transfer of IK from older to younger generations in the future. Similarly, men demonstrated more extensive knowledge than women. These findings align with previous research, [ 13 , 48 , 11 ],which associates age, sex or both and the ethnobotanical knowledge and, all arguing that older individuals possess greater knowledge of medicinal plants than younger ones. Expansion of agriculture is the primary threat to medicinal plants is the through deforestation of virgin forests. The increasing investments in agricultural activities, such as coffee cultivation, significantly contribute to the degradation of medicinal plants in the study area. According to [ 49 ], the main threats to medicinal plants are habitat loss due to deforestation for agricultural expansion, followed by drought, forest fires, timber production, road construction, and charcoal production. The result is also consistent with previous studies by [ 50 , 51 ], which also cited deforestation and agricultural expansion as major causes of medicinal plant loss in Ethiopia. Despite the decline of medicinal plants due to various threats, our study found that local communities maintain a deep connection with their natural environment and are highly aware of the threats facing medicinal plants. A notable example of this is their proactive effort to cultivate medicinal plants in home gardens, demonstrating a commitment to conserving these vital resources. Traditional beliefs in the area also have their own unintentional role in conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. According to [ 52 ]agricultural expansion and the lack of cultural preservation of traditional medicinal plants is the main case of threat. Conclusion This study indicated the relationship between the local community and the diverse array of medicinal plant species in Yeki District and the surrounding. Traditional medicinal plant species are potential sources in the primary traditional healthcare systems of the people in the study area. The identification of 102 plant species, including 7 endemics, underscores the area’s unique biodiversity and its role in conserving useful plants. The participation of informants from diverse demographic and ethnic background has enriched our understanding, revealing variations in ethnobotanical knowledge across gender and age groups. The study relied on triangulated data collection and analysis techniques considering both emic and etic perspectives and using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Such approaches enhance the validity of our findings and reveals of the depth of the community’s practices and the key plant species that capture researchers’ attentions. The documentation of MPs in terms of PR scores, ICF values and FL values would empower the potential to strengthen future pharmaceutical and phytochemical explorations, as well as conservation initiatives. Consequently, it becomes imperative to focus on safeguarding the traditional medicinal plants and the associated indigenous knowledge within the study are and beyond, ensuring their sustainable use and continuity into the future. These findings serve as valuable resources for sustainable conservation strategies, healthcare practices, and the preservation of traditional knowledge, underscoring the intricate interdependence of human societies and their natural surroundings. Recommendations Traditional healers and the local people who use medicinal plants in in Yeki district and its environs would need support from the education sector, tailored training, and finance to gain better knowledge of medicinal plant conservation and improve the mode of sustainable utilization. Relevant institutions should work to establish botanical garden to increase the conservation efforts of different medicinal plants. Further research is necessary to investigate the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and phytochemical properties of the potentially effective medicinal plants, which were selected based on their Preference Ranking (PR) scores, Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), and Fidelity Level (FL). This deeper understanding of their bioactive compounds will help validate their traditional uses and explore their potential for broader therapeutic applications. Abbreviations ETH Ethiopian National Herbarium FL Fidelity Level ICF Informant Consensus Factor IK Indigenous Knowledge PR Preference Ranking MPs Medicinal Plants Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was approved by the College of Natural and Computational Science, Mizan-Tepi University. The research conducted in the study area was authorized solely by official permissions from pertinent entities such as Mizan- Tepi University, College of Natural and Computational Science, and Yeki, Sheko and Godere District Administration; our approach involved obtaining informed consent from interviewees and emphasizing the voluntary aspect of their involvement in data collection (plant sample collection) and the use of the resulting information for academic purposes including publication. Consent for publication Not applicable. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Funding The Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia, funded the research (Grant number- MTU/06/43/52/15) Author Contribution Authors’ ContributionsDM: Conceptualization; data curation ; formal analysis; investigation; writing original draft; writing – review and editing. MA: Conceptualization, formal analysis; writing – review and editing. SG: writing- review and editing. This is original research that has not previously been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Acknowledgement AcknowledgementsWe would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the local informants, herbalist, local administrators, and agriculture extension workers of Yeki, Sheko, and Godere districts for their committed participation, factual and kind response, and sharing their traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. Besides, we would like to thank the Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, for the provision of materials and financial support. Data Availability Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files. References E. Kelbessa and S. 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Megersa and N. Tamrat, “Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Basona Werana District, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia,” Evidence-based Complement. Altern. Med. , vol. 2022, 2022, doi: 10.1155/2022/5242033 . B. Kidane, T. van Andel, L. J. G. van der Maesen, and Z. Asfaw, “Use and management of traditional medicinal plants by Maale and Ari ethnic communities in southern Ethiopia,” J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–15, 2014, doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-10-46 . Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5287860","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":367573000,"identity":"906b7eea-d71d-44a3-b2dd-2b6f6a808856","order_by":0,"name":"Daniel 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region, Yeki District and surrounding study kebeles\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/007f9ad041a3ba91fa17b081.jpeg"},{"id":67100884,"identity":"eacacfd9-f893-4f3f-990c-fa9e706c4a22","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:35","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1345004,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eInterview and filed observation with the guidance of local people in Yeki District (Photo courtesy: Daniel Melese, Yeki District, Ethiopia, 2022).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/c009a5aef5715bf7b8eeb365.png"},{"id":67100875,"identity":"f9d54211-0b76-4b45-bd85-09d8b1732cb4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:31","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":7681,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe growth form of medicinal plants (MPs)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/a89b473b18728fbbf1c62026.png"},{"id":67100882,"identity":"e997fd30-bd4a-4cf9-85a3-5e99d8f5565e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:35","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":101006,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFamilies of medicinal plants\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/119a71a73dcc44b31a1eb651.png"},{"id":67100876,"identity":"37ce226a-ecbb-4584-bc3b-ef57694711d9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:31","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":88501,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePercentage of plant parts used in remedy preparation\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/f4b146ac47c0c58788ea6b55.png"},{"id":67100874,"identity":"212bc44a-63d6-443a-b9ff-aa04153133f6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:30","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":42844,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMost frequently listed disease and number of species acclimated to treat\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/d4870861944b233e93d3f248.png"},{"id":67100878,"identity":"4ffa22b0-bb72-4f82-be3a-669b20c43e76","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:32","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":69210,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTraditional medicinal plants acclaimed to treat many number of diseases\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/aabb89d0a0dd0dbb51ab64df.png"},{"id":67101709,"identity":"d6d3790b-b628-4a91-88dd-cb56520ca726","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:17:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2742639,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/1159fb51-7fee-438e-9afb-3d623023dd7e.pdf"},{"id":67100879,"identity":"38819cbf-fec3-4e49-9c1d-f42f7256231e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-21 08:09:32","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":56850,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5287860/v1/1d17997bfe86a73315a16a6b.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Yeki District and Its Environs, Southwestern Ethiopia ","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe Ethiopian flora is estimated to contain 5757 species of higher plants of which about 10% are endemic [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e] having a lot contribution for traditional medicine. Ethiopia is also a home to many languages, cultures and beliefs that in turn have contributed to the high diversity of traditional knowledge and practices of the people in using medicinal plants. Traditional medicine still remains the main resources for a large majority (80%) of the people in Ethiopia for treating health problems [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. However, the knowledge of medicinal plant use is yet incomplete because there has not been a total inventory of medicinal plants that have been traditionally known to indigenous people [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. In addition to environmental degradation, deforestation, agricultural expansion, over exploitation and population growth is the principal threat to medicinal plants in Ethiopia [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]. Knowledge about traditional medicine is transferred secretly from generation to generation orally especially in countries like Ethiopia [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e] as there is little accessibility to written documents and records on medicinal plants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouthwest Ethiopian forests are home to various ecosystem services including forest coffee, honey, spices, construction materials, and ritual services. Intimate human-forest interactions occur due to the high degree of dependence on these forest-based ecosystem services. These forests are believed to be the origin and primary center of diversity of \u003cem\u003eCoffee arabica\u003c/em\u003e where it is still grown in the wild and contains a highly diverse gene pool [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. However, many of these forests have already been converted to agricultural landscapes, or the remnant forests are managed to produce semi-forest coffee, and a more intensive garden and plantation coffee systems [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR9\" citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. New investment opportunities in south-western Ethiopia are converting these remnant forests into other land uses such as tea and coffee plantation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. This Region is suffering habitat and species loss due to continued deforestation and over usage of medicinal plants as well as loss of associated knowledge and little has been done to document ethnobotanical knowledge which is basic for conservation activity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough limited ethnobotanical research has been conducted in the southwest region of Ethiopia [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR12 CR13\" citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e], our study aimed to explore areas that have not been previously covered, focusing on Yeki District and its environs, known for their diverse cultural backgrounds. A comprehensive ethnobotanical study in Yeki District and surrounding is essential to document and analyze the traditional knowledge and practices of the local people focusing on medicinal plants for the treatment of human and livestock ailments, contributing to the utilization and preservation of biodiversity. Moreover, comparing the findings of this study with the Ethiopian ethnobotanical medicinal plant database will provide valuable insights into the regional distribution and utilization of medicinal plants, further enriching our understanding of Ethiopia\u0026rsquo;s remarkable traditional plant-based healthcare system. In view of this, the present study aims to (i) collect, identify, and document traditional medicinal plants used by the local people of Yeki District and its environs for the treatment of human and livestock ailments (ii) identify plant parts used to treat diseases, method of preparation and route of administration as implemented in the study area (iii) identify major threats of medicinal plants of the study area.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1. Description of the Study Area\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe ethnobotanical study involved the diverse ethnic group residing in Yeki district and the surrounding. From Yeki district part of Sheka zone 10 kebeles and the surrounding, Metti, Giz Meret and Kubito kebeles, which is the part of Godere, Sheko and Anderacha districts, respectively (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Yeki woreda and its surroundings lies in the highland areas of the Southwestern Ethiopia that constitutes the upper catchments of several important rivers, such as Baro, Akobo and Omo rivers. The woreda and its surrounding areas are characterized by a vast forest cover. The dominant indigenous tree species in the forest include \u003cem\u003eCordia africana\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePolyscias fulva\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePouteria adolfi-friedericii\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSchefflera abyssinica\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCroton macrostachyus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePrunus Africana\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eOlea welwitschii\u003c/em\u003e. Agricultural practices are the main livelihood sources for the majority of the inhabitants. Individual income-scoring results showed that wild coffee is by far the dominant, the only other used for cash income being honey, smaller quantities of which are sold by some households. In addition, cardamom, black pepper (\u0026lsquo;timiz\u0026rsquo;), and timber for houses, farm tools, fencing and ladders are also common non timber forest products but mostly for home consumption and they are important sources of cash income [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2. Sampling techniques\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eReconnaissance survey of the study area was conducted in order to familiarize with the study area and for determining the sample sites. Prior to any contact with the local people, the objectives of the research were addressed during the survey for the district administrator to get permission and legal identity letter in order to obtain support from Kebele administrators and local people in relation to the research to make feasible data collection process. Some key informants were also identified and selected during the survey.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSample sites of the area were selected purposively based on vegetation availability and occurrence of residents and previous studies coverage. Following [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e], each Kebele was given equal probability and 10 general informants per kebele were selected using systematic random sampling with a total of 130 informants. When selecting the general informants, great care was given that each informant had to belong at different households. In addition, 40 key informants were selected purposively based on the recommendations of local authorities, elders, and religious leaders.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3. Data collection technique\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSemi- structured interviews were prepared and used as guide following [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. Ethnobotanical data collection through semi-structured interview was performed on the basis of check list item questions that prepared in English and later translated to local languages, such as Shekkacho, Sheko, Majang and other languages accordingly. Key informants were first interviewed individually to mention about types of human and livestock ailments in the study area, the local names of the plants they use to treat diseases, diseases treated, part(s) of plants used, methods of gathering, methods of preparation of remedies, route of administration of remedies, application of the remedies, side effects of the treatment, use of the plants other than medicine, types of threat and conservation problems. Focus group discussion was conducted two times with the most knowledgeable ones suggested by respective kebele elders and administrators about the status of the distribution, threats and conservation attempt of traditional medicinal plants. They were interacted face to face and actively discuss on the distribution, threats and conservation in order to share information about status of medicinal plants. Guided field walk was used for specimen collection and recording at spot while the interview is undergoing and gives time to observe and discuss parts of plant harvesting or patterns of plant distribution (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). Medicinal plants were collected and recorded from wild and cultivated areas with their local names, habits and place of collection. The collected voucher specimens were taken to the National Herbarium of Ethiopia (ETH) and identified using various volumes of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea and recorded specimen in National Herbarium.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4. Data analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe collected ethnobotanical data was analyzed following survey and analytical tools for ethnobotanical methods, which was recommended by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. Descriptive statistical methods were employed to analyze and summarize the data on medicinal plants and associated knowledge obtained from informants of the study area, such as percentage and/or frequency of species, genera and families of ethnobotanical medicinal plants, their growth forms, proportion of plant parts harvested, mode of remedy preparation and routes of administration; and graphs were visualized using R-software (R Core Team, 2023, package ggplot2).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Informant consensus factor (ICF) was calculated for categories of ailments to identify the agreements of the informants on the reported cures using the formula.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eICF= \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\frac{nur-nt\\:}{nur-1}\\:\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (1), ICF-informants consensus factor, nur- number of use citation in each category, nt\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;number of species used.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe relative healing potential of medicinal plants was estimated using an index referred to as fidelity level (FL) based on the proportion of informants who agreed on its use against a given ailment category, which was calculated using fidelity level following [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e] using a formula;\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFL= \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\frac{Np}{N}\\times\\:100\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (2), Np is the number of informant that claims a use of plant species claimed to treat particular disease and N is the number of informants that used the plant to treat any given disease.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFurthermore, preference (priority) ranking was performed using seven key informants for most medicinal plants used to prevent the most prevalent disease in the study area. Accordingly, seven medicinal plants were chosen to be ranked preferentially by key informants on the bases of preventing wound using a numerical scale (0 for no value, 1 for lowest value and 7 the highest value, and the rest with intermediate values). Values given by the key informants were added to identify the ranks of medicinal plants preference by the community in the study area. To test consistency of the relationships of preferences and transitivity of results, pair wise matrix of six that are acclaimed to treat diarrhea ranked using paired comparison based on their efficacy following [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]. The possible number of pairs for each value was calculated using a formula;\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo. of pairs= \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\frac{n\\:(n-1)}{2}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (3), n is number of items (species).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChi-square test was computed to identify the number of medicinal plant species and associated uses reported general informants. Similarly, it was also used to identify the indigenous knowledge variation of males and females on the numbers of medicinal plant species and associated uses they mentioned. The ages of the informants were grouped into 20\u0026ndash;41 (younger informants) 42\u0026ndash;63 (middle age informants) and \u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;64 (elder informants). Therefore, the variation in the numbers of medicinal plant species and associated uses reported within the age and sex groups were computed with Chi-square test.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eDemographic features of the informants\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the total of 130 general informants, the majority (90) were males and 40 females with marital status of 100, 22 and 8 married, divorced and single respectively within age range of 20\u0026ndash;85. From the total 40 key informants, 31 were males, and 9 were females (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRespondents demographic characteristics of Yeki district and its environs\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAttr/Resp.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic characteristics of the respondents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge Group\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGeneral informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u0026ndash;41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u0026ndash;63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u0026ndash;85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKey informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u0026ndash;41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u0026ndash;63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u0026ndash;85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducational status general informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIlliterate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiterate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducational status of Key informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIlliterate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiterate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMarital status of general informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSingle\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMarried\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDivorced\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMarital status of key informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSingle\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMarried\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDivorced\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1. Taxonomic diversity of medicinal plants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA total of 102 traditional medicinal plant species belonging to 86 genera and 57 families were recorded in the study area. Herbs accounted for higher proportion (46, 45.1%) followed by shrubs which accounts (22, 21.57%) of the total plant population (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). From the total medicinal plants most of the species are indigenous (72.55%) followed by introduced species (20.58%) and the remaining endemic (6.86%) to flora of Ethiopia (Table \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe most popular family was Asteraceae had high proportion of medicinal plant species (eleven species) followed by Fabaceae and Lamiaceae (five species each). Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae were represented by four species each. Other species such as; Brassicaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrsinaceae, Ranunclaceae and Rutaceae were represented by three species each; while Alliaceae, Amaranthaceae, Boraginaceae, Moraceae, Piperaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Tiliaceae, Verbanaceae and Zingiberaceae were represented by two species each. However, the remaining Families were represented by only one species (Fig.\u0026nbsp;4, Table \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOf the total collected medicinal plants species, most of them (58) were collected from the wild, 24 were obtained from home garden (cultivated near or around a household., where they are used also as food or purely for medicinal purposes or both), and 20 species were from both home garden and wild habitats (Table \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2. Plant parts used and condition of remedy preparations\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults revealed that greater proportion of parts of the plant for medicinal values was leaves (28.7%) followed by roots (19.59%). Despite mentioning many plant parts being used for remedy preparation, some of the preparations were from stem and bark, leaf and seed, bulb and leaf, twig, and stolen (0.52% each) were plant parts with list percentage used as medicinal values (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOf the total remedies, 71.9% were prepared using freshly collected plant parts. Additionally, 12.2% were made from a combination of fresh and/or dried parts, while the remaining 16.8% were exclusively prepared from dried plant materials.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3. Administration route and preparation of plant remedies\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnce the medicinal valued plants were collected and make ready, the administration was applied through eight routes. Nevertheless, most of the remedies (61.11%) were administered through oral routes followed by dermal routes (27.27%) and nasal routes (5.05%). While the list administration route of plant remedies was applied through nasal, oral and dermal which accounts 0.51% (Table S2). Indigenous people of the study district practiced different types of remedy preparation methods. From these remedy preparation methods, pounding was the main method of preparation (40.4%) followed by firing and fumigating and directly take the plant parts (unprocessed) which accounts 8.1% each. While, ash, roosted and infusion form of remedy preparations of medicinal plants were the list preparation methods that accounts (0.5%) each out of the total method of remedy preparations (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMode of preparation of medicinal plants with their relative percentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTypes of preparations\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNumber of Plant\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003epreparation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePercentages (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePounding\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e41.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUnprocessed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFiring and fumigating\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDecoction\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChewing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoiling\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCreaming\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePowdering\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBoiling and fumigation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLatex collection\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSniff\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrounding\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAsh\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRoosted\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInfusion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4. Efficacy of medicinal plants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eInformant consensus of nine most frequently listed plant species showed that \u003cem\u003eCroton macrostachyus\u003c/em\u003e is the most significant medicinal plant with 73.5% informant agreement. The second most significant medicinal plant with 68.2% consensus was \u003cem\u003eWithania somnifera\u003c/em\u003e (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInformant consensus on ten most frequently used MPs\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScientific name\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiseases acclaimed to be treated\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo. of Reports\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWithania somnifera\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItch, Evil eye and evil sprite\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCough, Pneumonia, Tape worm\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHemorrhoids\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e116\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2nd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEucalyptus globulus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCold sores, Febrile illness, Common cold, cough\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e112\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCroton macrostachyus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTyphoid, Intestinal, parasite Tuberculosis, Hemorrhoids\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGonorrhea, Spleeno megally\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRingworm, Dermatophilosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEczema\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e125\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1st\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrucea antidysenterica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHepatitis, Madness/mental disease\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLice, Diarrhea, Bloody diarrhea\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnthrax, Ascaris\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJusticia schimperiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHepatitis, Rabies, Dandruff\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntestinal parasites, Evil eye\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMoringa stenopetala\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAsthma, Common cold, Hypertension, diabetes mellitus\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e114\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3rd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eZingiber officinale\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStomachache, Stomachache Cough, Eye disease\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifolius\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEczema, Snake Bite, Asthma Bloody diarrhea, Evil eye, Rheumatism, Tumor, Intestinal Parasite, Diarrhea\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRuta chalepensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEvil eye, Stomachache, diarrhea\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults revealed 100% fidelity level for the following plants; \u003cem\u003eGrewia trichocarpa\u003c/em\u003e for tonsillitis; \u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e for diarrhea; \u003cem\u003eMukia maderaspatana, Bidens pilosa, Plantago lanceolata\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eUrera hypselodendron\u003c/em\u003e for wound; \u003cem\u003eAchyranthes aspera\u003c/em\u003e for cold sores; \u003cem\u003ePolygala abyssinica\u003c/em\u003e for stomachache; \u003cem\u003eCyperus rigidifolius\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eVernonia auriculifera\u003c/em\u003e for snake bite and \u003cem\u003eIndigofera spicata\u003c/em\u003e for febrile illness (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFidelity value of traditional medicinal plants for the most frequently reported diseases\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisease treated\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedicinal plants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNp\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFL (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"5\" rowspan=\"6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTonsillitis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGrewia trichocarpa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eKalanchoe petitiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcmella caulirhiza\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhamnus prinoides\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e115\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRumex nepalensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFicus sur\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e98\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"5\" rowspan=\"6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiarrhea\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifolius\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e135\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRuta chalepensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e175\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e44.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrucea antidysenterica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLinum usitatissimum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e86\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e102\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e84.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGomphocarpus fruticosus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"8\" rowspan=\"9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWound\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMukia maderaspatana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBidens pilosa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCoffee Arabica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAloe kefaensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarissa spinarum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlantago lanceolate\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSolanum anguivi\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e85.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica nigra\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e222\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUrera hypselodendron\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"5\" rowspan=\"6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCold sores\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEucalyptus globulus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOcimum lamiifolium\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAchyranthes aspera\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEchinops hispidus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNicotiana tabacum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSalvia nilotica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"6\" rowspan=\"7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStomachache\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRuta chalepensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e165\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcmella caulirhiza\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e44.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBersama abyssinica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e131\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePolygala abyssinica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eZingiber officinale\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e111\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eKalanchoe petitiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAllium sativum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e166\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSnake bite\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarissa spinarum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCyperus rigidifolius\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifolius\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e135\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eVernonia auriculifera\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFebrile illness\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEucalyptus globulus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIndigofera spicata\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEchinops hispidus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOcimum lamiifolium\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePreference ranking on the seven plants acclaimed to treat wound was done and \u003cem\u003eAloe kefanis\u003c/em\u003e was found the most useful medicinal plant to treat wound while \u003cem\u003eBrassica nigra\u003c/em\u003e had lower value (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSimple preference ranking for 7 MPs wound (7\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;most preferred, 1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least preferred).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"13\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpecies name\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"10\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKey informants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBidens pilosa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2nd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAloe kefanis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1st\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarissa spinarum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUrera hypselodendron\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlantgo lanceolata\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSolamm anguivi\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3rd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica nigra\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePair wise comparison was done for five most frequently listed species acclaimed to treat diarrhea based on efficacy. The analysis indicated that \u003cem\u003eBrucea antidysenterica\u003c/em\u003e was the most important traditional medicinal plant to treat diarrhea followed by \u003cem\u003eLinum usitatissimum\u003c/em\u003e while \u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e was the least significant plant from the six species (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePaired comparison and ranking of the six most cited medicinal plants for treating diarrhea by key Informants (I1-I8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"11\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlant species\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"8\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKey Informants(I1-I8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRuta chalepensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3rd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrucea antidysenterica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1st\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLinum usitatissimum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2nd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eVerbena officinalis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifolius\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"11\"\u003eThe possible pairs are: 6(6\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1)/2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;15.the pairs are (R,B),(R,A), (R,L), (R,V), (R,C), (B,A), (B,L),(B,V),(B,C),(A,L),(A,V), (A,C),(L,V),(L,C),(V,C); Where: A(\u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e); B(\u003cem\u003eBrucea antidysenterica)\u003c/em\u003e, R(\u003cem\u003eRuta halepensis\u003c/em\u003e); L(\u003cem\u003eLinum usitatissimum);\u003c/em\u003e V(\u003cem\u003eVerbena officinalis)\u003c/em\u003e; C(\u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifolius)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiseases were divided into twelve disease categories and informant consensus factor was calculated for those disease categories. The result showed that 0.91 (91%) of ICF was linked to problems associated with dermal disease followed by organ disease 0.9 (90%). However disease caused by poison venom and non-communicable disease such as; hypertension, diabetes, cancer and tumor had the least ICF value 0.33 and 0.36 (33% and 36%) respectively as compared to other disease categories (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e). This result revealed the presence of higher information exchange between the communities in the district about medicinal plants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab7\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eICF values of MPs for twelve categories of frequently reported diseases\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisease categories\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNur\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eICF value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGastrointestinal infection (stomachache, intestinal parasites, gastritis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, constipation)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e93\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisease caused by Arthropods( leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, herpes zoster)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisease caused by Helminthes (taeniasis, schistosomiasis, ascariasis)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNon communicable disease (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, tumor)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDermal disease (wound, dandruff, wart, eczema, scabies, skin infection, acne vulgaris, dermatophilosis, fire burn, fungal disease, head wound, hemorrhoid, skin irritation, lice)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e266\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.91\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpiritual disease (evil sprite, evil eye)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRespiratory disease (asthma, cough, pneumonia, tonsillitis)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMicrobial disease (viral infection, typhoid, amoeba, malaria, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, common cold)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e86\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOrgan diseases (toothache, earache, eye disease, headache, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, hepatitis, nephritis)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e166\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoison (Snake Bite, Spider venom)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLivestock diseases (anthrax, blackleg, retained placenta, bloat, calf diarrhea, botch, leaches, rabies)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmergency disease (spleeno megally, rheumatism, memory loss, febrile illness, cold sores, edema, ,body pain, madness, hemorrhage)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.68\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5. Number and type of aliments and associated traditional medicinal plants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e From the total recorded medicinal plants, majority 67 (65.69%) of the species were listed as remedies for human ailments followed by species for the treatment of both human and livestock ailments 24 (23.53%) and few plant species 11 (10.78%) for only livestock ailments. These medicinal plants were claimed to be used for the treatment of 48 types of human health problems, 9 types of livestock ailments and 14 types of both human and livestock aliments with a total of 71 health problems. From the total health problems, wound was acclaimed to be treated by highest number of plant species (10 species) followed by tonsillitis and diarrhea (8 species) each (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong the medicinal plant species used by local communities to treat different ailments \u003cem\u003eCucumis ficifoliusis\u003c/em\u003e was used to treat high number (10) followed by \u003cem\u003eCroton macrostachyus\u003c/em\u003e which accounts (9) ailments (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.6. Variation of Indigenous Plant Knowledge among age and sex groups\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThree age groups were identified during data collection and compared their knowledge and experience regarding to the uses of plants as medicinal purposes. Accordingly, the respondents whose age interval within the ranges of above 64 years were more knowledgeable and report higher number of species as compared to other age groups. There is a variation of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants among respondents with sex groups. The result showed that more number of medicinal plants were reported by males than females which reveals that males has more knowledgeable than females about medicinal plants (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab8\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 8\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariation of indigenous plant knowledge among age and sex groups\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo. of medicinal plants reported\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge groups\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSex groups\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u0026ndash;41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u0026ndash;63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u0026ndash;13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u0026ndash;21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u0026ndash;29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u0026ndash;37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Chi-square test also confirmed that, there was a significant difference on the number of medicinal plant species mentioned by different age groups and sexes, with the overall p-values of 0.0005 and 0.0269 respectively. It also shown that, there was a significant difference on the number of medicinal plant species mentioned by the two age groups (20\u0026ndash;41and 42\u0026ndash;63, 20-41and\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;64 and 42\u0026ndash;63 and \u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;64years) of informants and the respective uses they explained (Tables\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Tab9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e). Elders whose age were between 40 and 84 years noticed detailed descriptions and practical preparation techniques of medicinal plants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab9\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 9\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChi-square test of sex and age difference among respondents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecomparison\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eraw.p\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eadj.p\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u0026ndash;41 vs. 42\u0026ndash;63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0250\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0250\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u0026ndash;41 vs. \u0026gt;64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u0026ndash;63 vs. \u0026gt;64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecomparison\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eraw.p\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eadj.p\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emale vs. female\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0269\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0269\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.7. Threats of medicinal plants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the report of key informants, the main threats to medicinal plants were agricultural expansion, construction activities, population growth, charcoal production, firewood collection, and grazing (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab10\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab10\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 10\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThreats of medicinal plants (average score of 6 threats by 8 key informants)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"11\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThreats of MPs\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"10\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRespondents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1st\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePG\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3rd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFW\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e51\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4th\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2nd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere: AE- agricultural expansion, CO- construction activities, PG-population growth, CP- charcoal production, FW- firewood collection, and GR- grazing.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe total of 102 medicinal plant species (7 endemic and 74 indigenous and 21 introduced) that are highly valued by the local population for treating both human and livestock ailments. It is comparable to those of [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e]. This significant number underscores the vital role of herbal remedies in meeting the primary healthcare needs of the community. It also highlights the strong acceptance and reliance on traditional herbal medicine, particularly for conditions such as malaria, eye diseases, tonsillitis, snakebites, diarrhea, rabies, amoebiasis, and even perceived afflictions like the evil eye, which also reported in other studies by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e]. The growth form of medicinal plants in the study districts was dominated by herbs which aligned with other studies conducted in Ethiopia [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e]. The dominance of herbs is attributed to variations in abundance and distribution across different growth forms of medicinal plants, as well as their relative abundance and ease of access for healers. The study area's consistently humid conditions throughout most of the year further promote herb growth, contributing to their prevalence [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAsteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae were notably abundant in the study area. The dominancy of Asteraceae in the study area is consistent with the other studies by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e] while the dominancy of Asteraceae and Fabaceae was similar with [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. Such dominancy of families will be the result of highly medicinal value on curing different aliments and due to the dominancy of these families in Ethiopian flora, ranking third and first in the Ethiopian flora, respectively [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. Even though wild habitats were found to be the major source of traditional medicinal plants, accounting for 56.86% of all reported species, a significant number of respondents conserve medicinal plants in home gardens (43.14%). The practice of cultivating medicinal plants in home gardens contributes to their sustainable use, and offers a promising strategy for ex-situ conservation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e]. The investigation also revealed that wild habitats are increasingly subjected to anthropogenic pressures, leading to their reduction in size. This is primarily driven by population growth, resulting in the loss of many medicinal species that depend on these natural habitats. This finding aligns with previous reports highlighting overreliance on wild habitats for harvesting medicinal plants [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the plant parts leaves have highly medicinal values, which is similar with other studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. However the study of [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e] showed that root have highly medicinal values other than leaves. The reason leaves have highly valuable for traditional medicine for different human and livestock ailments might be they are considered to have curative properties and their rich chemical composition. Many leaves contain bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids, which have been found to exhibit medicinal properties. These compounds can have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects, which may aid in the treatment of certain diseases [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e]. In addition, collecting leaves doesn’t pose a great damage to the existence of an individual plant when compare to the other parts of plants especially underground stems. Rare species may be susceptible to local extinction due to over usage and pressure posed on its sensitive organ like root if care is not taken [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the study area most of the remedies were prepared from fresh, dried and fresh and/or dried plant parts respectively. Similar results were documented in other studies [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e]. The reason why fresh condition of plant parts is widely used could be due to loss of volatile secondary metabolites when dried or cooked. The volatility property of the chemicals resulted to be evaporated after plants are cut and dried which lead the loss of active constitutes [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003e]. Information from informants indicated that, the plant parts used condition for medicinal preparation depended on the availability of the species, which is consistent with the result of [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e]. For commonly available plants, informants used fresh specimens to prepare remedies for their patients. However, for rare and seasonally available plant species, they stored and used dried specimens. The livelihood of most traditional healers relies on fresh materials that have aggravated the decline of rare medicinal plants from the study area according to the informants. The modes of administration for medicinal plants were reported to vary depending on the method of preparation, the location of the ailment, and the type of disease being treated. Most of the prepared remedies were administered orally. The result agrees with the other studies carried out in different regions of Ethiopia [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]. Oral and dermal administration allows rapid physiological responses between prepared drugs and pathogens, enhancing their therapeutic potential. This may be because these pathways facilitate quicker interactions with the pathogen’s physiology, thereby boosting the healing effect [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe highest (0.91) Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) of the medicinal plants was associated with problems of dermal disease. It includes wound, dandruff, wart, eczema, scabies, skin infection, acne vulgaris, dermatophilosis, fire burn, fungal disease, head wound, hemorrhoid, skin irritation, lice. Organ diseases such as toothache, earache, eye disease, headache, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, hepatitis, nephritis had ICF value of 0.90. If plants are chosen randomly and there is no exchange of information about their use among informants, ICF values are low, near to zero, while when information is exchanged between informants or there is a well-defined selection criterion in the community, ICF approaches to one [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e]. According to [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003e], when high degree of ICF is recorded, high ICF value was calculated for most of the traditional medicinal plants in this study and medicinal tradition is viewed as well-defined. Therefore, the result revealed the presence of higher information exchange between the communities in the district about medicinal plants. Moreover, the diseases could also encounter in most members of the community and people share indigenous knowledge to cure the common ailments. In addition, to ICF value showed that \u003cem\u003eCroton macrostachyus\u003c/em\u003e (73.5%) had highly medicinal values for the disease; typhoid, intestinal parasite, tuberculosis, hemorrhoids gonorrhea, spleeno megally ringworm, dermatophilosis and eczema. As indicated by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e45\u003c/span\u003e], informant consensus values provide a good indication of particular species used for specific health problems, as well as medicinal plants that address multiple health issues, which highlights the pharmacological significance of the medicinal plants in the area.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe fidelity level (FL) of \u003cem\u003eGrewia trichocarpa\u003c/em\u003e for tonsillitis; \u003cem\u003eAllophylus abyssinicus\u003c/em\u003e for diarrhea; \u003cem\u003ePlantago lanceolata\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMukia maderaspatana\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBidens pilosa\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eUrera hypselodendron\u003c/em\u003e for wound; \u003cem\u003eAchyranthes aspera\u003c/em\u003e for cold sores; \u003cem\u003ePolygala abyssinica\u003c/em\u003e for stomachache; \u003cem\u003eCyperus rigidifolius\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eVernonia auriculifera\u003c/em\u003e for snake bite and \u003cem\u003eIndigofera spicata\u003c/em\u003e for febrile illness showed 100% FL. As [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e46\u003c/span\u003e] indicates fidelity level of medicinal plants represents the relative healing potential of medicinal plants against a given ailment. In the current study, healing potential of most medicinal plants has relatively higher fidelity level values for treating human and livestock aliments. High FL indicates that, all use reports refer to the same way of using it, whereas low FLs are obtained for plants that are used for many different purposes. Plants with high FL values could be target species prioritized for conservation and management for sustainable use. The report of [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e47\u003c/span\u003e] showed that lower fidelity level indicates a given medicinal plant species could have more number of mentions by the informants than medicinal plant species that have high fidelity level.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe analysis of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) variation in relation to both age and sex of informants revealed that older individuals, especially men, exhibited higher levels of knowledge about medicinal plants. Older informants (aged 42–63 and above 64) have had prolonged and regular contact with the forest and other natural plant resources, leading to greater experience and knowledge compared to younger and middle-aged informants. On the other hand, the younger generation is more influenced by modern education and therefore less inclined to learn and practice IK passed down from their parents. Furthermore, the current changes in vegetation within the study area may have an impact on the assessment carried out by the younger generation. This could potentially disrupt the transfer of IK from older to younger generations in the future. Similarly, men demonstrated more extensive knowledge than women. These findings align with previous research, [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e48\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e],which associates age, sex or both and the ethnobotanical knowledge and, all arguing that older individuals possess greater knowledge of medicinal plants than younger ones.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExpansion of agriculture is the primary threat to medicinal plants is the through deforestation of virgin forests. The increasing investments in agricultural activities, such as coffee cultivation, significantly contribute to the degradation of medicinal plants in the study area. According to [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e49\u003c/span\u003e], the main threats to medicinal plants are habitat loss due to deforestation for agricultural expansion, followed by drought, forest fires, timber production, road construction, and charcoal production. The result is also consistent with previous studies by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e50\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e51\u003c/span\u003e], which also cited deforestation and agricultural expansion as major causes of medicinal plant loss in Ethiopia. Despite the decline of medicinal plants due to various threats, our study found that local communities maintain a deep connection with their natural environment and are highly aware of the threats facing medicinal plants. A notable example of this is their proactive effort to cultivate medicinal plants in home gardens, demonstrating a commitment to conserving these vital resources. Traditional beliefs in the area also have their own unintentional role in conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. According to [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e52\u003c/span\u003e]agricultural expansion and the lack of cultural preservation of traditional medicinal plants is the main case of threat.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study indicated the relationship between the local community and the diverse array of medicinal plant species in Yeki District and the surrounding. Traditional medicinal plant species are potential sources in the primary traditional healthcare systems of the people in the study area. The identification of 102 plant species, including 7 endemics, underscores the area’s unique biodiversity and its role in conserving useful plants. The participation of informants from diverse demographic and ethnic background has enriched our understanding, revealing variations in ethnobotanical knowledge across gender and age groups. The study relied on triangulated data collection and analysis techniques considering both emic and etic perspectives and using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Such approaches enhance the validity of our findings and reveals of the depth of the community’s practices and the key plant species that capture researchers’ attentions. The documentation of MPs in terms of PR scores, ICF values and FL values would empower the potential to strengthen future pharmaceutical and phytochemical explorations, as well as conservation initiatives. Consequently, it becomes imperative to focus on safeguarding the traditional medicinal plants and the associated indigenous knowledge within the study are and beyond, ensuring their sustainable use and continuity into the future. These findings serve as valuable resources for sustainable conservation strategies, healthcare practices, and the preservation of traditional knowledge, underscoring the intricate interdependence of human societies and their natural surroundings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eRecommendations\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTraditional healers and the local people who use medicinal plants in in Yeki district and its environs would need support from the education sector, tailored training, and finance to gain better knowledge of medicinal plant conservation and improve the mode of sustainable utilization. Relevant institutions should work to establish botanical garden to increase the conservation efforts of different medicinal plants. Further research is necessary to investigate the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and phytochemical properties of the potentially effective medicinal plants, which were selected based on their Preference Ranking (PR) scores, Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), and Fidelity Level (FL). This deeper understanding of their bioactive compounds will help validate their traditional uses and explore their potential for broader therapeutic applications.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cp\u003eETH Ethiopian National Herbarium\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFL Fidelity Level\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eICF Informant Consensus Factor\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIK Indigenous Knowledge\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePR Preference Ranking\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMPs Medicinal Plants\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e This study was approved by the College of Natural and Computational Science, Mizan-Tepi University. The research conducted in the study area was authorized solely by official permissions from pertinent entities such as Mizan- Tepi University, College of Natural and Computational Science, and Yeki, Sheko and Godere District Administration; our approach involved obtaining informed consent from interviewees and emphasizing the voluntary aspect of their involvement in data collection (plant sample collection) and the use of the resulting information for academic purposes including publication.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eConflicts of Interest\u003c/strong\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no conflicts of interest.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia, funded the research (Grant number- MTU/06/43/52/15)\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthors’ ContributionsDM: Conceptualization; data curation ; formal analysis; investigation; writing original draft; writing – review and editing. MA: Conceptualization, formal analysis; writing – review and editing. SG: writing- review and editing. This is original research that has not previously been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgementsWe would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the local informants, herbalist, local administrators, and agriculture extension workers of Yeki, Sheko, and Godere districts for their committed participation, factual and kind response, and sharing their traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. Besides, we would like to thank the Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, for the provision of materials and financial support.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eData is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eE. Kelbessa and S. Demissew, \u0026ldquo;DIVERSITY OF VASCULAR PLANT TAXA OF THE FLORA OF ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA,\u0026rdquo; Biol. Soc. Ethiop., vol. 13, pp. 37\u0026ndash;45, 2014, doi: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.7868/s0023291214050097\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.7868/s0023291214050097\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eD. Abebe, M. Zewdu, and A. 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Ethnomed., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1\u0026ndash;15, 2014, doi: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1186/1746-4269-10-46\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1186/1746-4269-10-46\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Ailments, herbs, home garden, Yeki, Informant consensus factor, medicinal plants, threat","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5287860/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5287860/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e Yeki District and its environs have long been inhabited by people who have a long tradition of using medicinal\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eplants to treat human and livestock ailments. Overexploitation of medicinal plants coupled with ever-increasing population growth, deforestation and agricultural land expansion threatens plants in the area.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eHence, the study aims to documents indigenous medicinal plant utilization, management and the threats affecting them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethodology\u003c/strong\u003e Both systematic random and purposive sampling were used to select general respondents (130) and key informants (30) respectively.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eData were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, guided field walk, preference ranking and paired comparison. Standard ethnobotanical tools, including preference ranking, pair-wise comparison, ICF, FL, direct matrix ranking, and the Chi-square test using R software, were applied for analysis. \u003cstrong\u003eResult\u003c/strong\u003e A total of 102 medicinal plants, belonging to 57 families were identified. Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceaerepresented by eleven and five species each were identified as the leading families. Herbs contributed the most (45.1%) to the growth forms followed by shrubs (21.57%). Out of the total medicinal plants, 58 species (56.86%) were collected from the wild, 24 were obtained from home garden, and 20 species were from both home garden and wild habitats. Fresh leaves of the plants were parts that are used most frequently in the area. The highest ICF value (0.91) was recorded for dermal problem categories. The majority of medicinal plants (65.69%) were used to treat human ailments, whereas 10.78% were used to treat livestock ailments, and 23.53% were used to treat both human and livestock ailments. Agricultural expansion was the major threat to medicinal plants, followed by grazing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003eThe current study underscores the intricate relationship between the local community and medicinal plants, emphasizing the critical role of biodiversity conservation in sustaining healthcare practices and ecosystem health. The findings contribute to the development of sustainable conservation strategies, the preservation of traditional knowledge, and emphasize the interdependence between human societies and their natural environments. Community-based conservation efforts, involving active participation from local populations and relevant institutions, are vital for the sustainable use and preservation of medicinal plant species and their habitats. Raising public awareness about the sustainable harvesting of exploited medicinal plants and establishing botanical gardens will safeguard these resources, contributing to both environmental protection and socioeconomic development.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Yeki District and Its Environs, Southwestern Ethiopia ","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-10-21 08:08:35","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5287860/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"719444ad-ca97-4d13-8526-223ce2e4c9cd","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 21st, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-10-21T08:09:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-10-21 08:08:35","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5287860","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5287860","identity":"rs-5287860","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}