Ethnomedicinal studies on the plant resources of east Anatolia, Turkey

A total of 444 naturally distributed taxa belonging to 62 families are used in the traditional medicine in the East Anatolian region of Turkey. These mainly belong to the families like Asteraceae (93 taxa), Lamiaceae (52 taxa), Rosaceae (30 taxa), Fabacaee (27 taxa), Boraginaceae (20 taxa), Apiaceae (17 taxa), Brassicaceae (16 taxa), Ranunculaceae (16 taxa), Malvaceae (12 taxa), Liliaceae (11 taxa), Polygonaceae (10 taxa), Euphorbiaceae (8 taxa), Scrophulariaceae (7 taxa), Solanaceae (6 taxa), Plantaginaceae (5 taxa), Crassulaceae (5 taxa) and Chenopodiaceae (5 taxa). The dominating genera are Achillea (11 taxa), Centaurea (11 taxa), Scorzonera (9 taxa), Alcea (8 taxa), Euphorbia (8 taxa), Salvia (8 taxa), Anthemis (7 taxa), Taraxacum (7 taxa), Tragopogon (7 taxa), Allium (7 taxa), Artemisia (6 taxa), Crataegus (6 taxa), Ranunculus (6 taxa), Rubus (6 taxa), Rumex (6 taxa), Thymus (6 taxa), Anchusa (5 taxa), Plantago (5 taxa), Rosa (5 taxa), Stachys (5 taxa), Tanacetum (5 taxa) and Verbascum (5 taxa). Although this region shows the highest ratio of endemism (25%) in Turkey, this ratio for medicinal plants lies around 8 percent. Out of 444 taxa evaluated medicinally 82 were observed to be poisonous. Local people in the region generally use herbal remedies for the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders, respiratory system disorders, rheumatic pain, kidney stones, hemorrhoids and skin troubles such as cut, wounds, burns, and abscess. In this paper an attempt has been made to present the information on the medicinal plants of the region for its availability to the researchers in different fields related to herbal drugs.