A. Pepsi’s research while affiliated with NESAMONY MEMORIAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE and other places

Sacred groves are the reservoirs of biodiversity and help in conserving the resources available due to strong cultural and religious beliefs. The study was conducted in four selected sacred groves of Vilavancode and Kalkulam taluks to evaluate the ethnomedicinal values of plants used by the rural communities of Kanyakumari district. A total of 83 ethnomedicinal plants were recorded as per the information given by the rural communities. Apocynaceae was a dominant family followed by Euphorbiaceae. Leaves were used predominantly and internal intake was done mostly than external use. Medicinal preparations were largely taken in the form of juice, paste and decoction. These herbal medicines were frequently used for skin diseases, fever, asthma, body pain, bone fractures, gynaecological disorders, etc. These valuable uses of medicinal plants must be documented for the goodness of man.

Sacred groves are forest patches conserved by the local people through religious and cultural practices. These groves are important reservoirs of biodiversity, preserving indigenous plant species and serving as asylum of Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species. The present study was carried out in Muppuram coastal sacred grove of Kanyakumari district to reveal the plant diversity, structure and regeneration pattern of trees using quadrate method. About 102 plant species were recorded from the total area (0.2 ha) of the grove studied. The vegetation of the grove clearly indicates tropical dry evergreen forest. Malvaceae was the dominant family. Young plant species were dominating than older ones (> 160 cm). To avoid the rapid environmental degradation of the sacred grove, conserving the groves is urgent and it is necessary to conduct more researches on this grove as well as other groves of the district.