SOME ETHNOBOTANICAL USES OF PLANT RESOURCES IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate the ethnobotanical uses of plant resources in Nassarawa State, Nigeria. A total of 80 plants belonging to 37 families were surveyed through oral interviews of local inhabitants from different locations in the State, who use various plant materials for their livelihood. Uses ranged from Ornamental, food, forage, timber and construction, pest control, and textile. Plants belonging to the families Poaceae and Caesalpinniaceae were mostly used for food (9.76% respectively), Poaceae(42.85%) for forage, Combretaceae, Poaceae and Moraceae (18.18% respectively) for timber, building constructions and fuel
wood. Only members of the family Lamiaceae and Malvaceae were used for pest control and textile purposes respectively. Majority of plant use in the study area was for food (51.25%) followed by forage (17.15%). The genus Ficus had the highest number of ethnobotanical uses with four applications, followed by Terminalia and Ceibaboth having three applications each. The rich biodiversity of ethnobotanical significance in the study area needs to be adequately conserved in order to forestall over exploitation and extinction of economically important plant families which is the main source of economy to the inhabitants