Ethnobotanical Studies in Similipahar Forests of Mayurbhanj District (Orissa)

Similipahar Forests in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa are among the most luxurient and valuable forests of the state. The area is distinctive for its pristine wilderness. Only a small population consisting of a number of aboriginal tribes inhabit the area. A systematic of the forests carried out by the authors for over a period of four years has result in the finding of a number of tribal uses of the plants. The interesting ones, covering sixty seven species of vascular plants, which are not recorded in the important published literature on the medicinal and other economic plants of the country, are reported in the paper.