Wild Plants of Hindu Kush and Their Cultural Uses

This book provides an insight to the traditional uses of wild plants, conservation of economic plants and plant diversity of Utror and Gabral, which are located in the remote Hindu Kush region of District Swat, Pakistan. The area is situated adjacent to the confluence point of Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakorum and gifted with diverse and unique flora. Study of this book would help in understanding the utilization of wild medicinal plants in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Pakistan. The people of the region are very poor, illiterate and mostly dependent on wild plants for their daily requirements. They use 176 plant species for more than 42 domestic needs. Most of these plants are used for ethnomedicinal purposes, while some are sold in the market. Seven species of morels are collected and exported abroad. Over exploitation of the plant resources have threatened 17.61% of the utility plants. The author has introduced a new conservation assessment scale for calculating the conservation status of economic plants in the region. The book also discusses the diversity of Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms of the region.