Ethnobotany of Paderu Division of Visakhapatnam District, A.P., India

The term ethno botany refers to the interrelationship between the primitive people and plants growing around them. Paderu Division is the higher altitude zone in the hilly tracts of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. It has the second highest tribal population in Andhra Pradesh. Paderu division lies in between latitudes of 17o_501 and 18o – 351 north and longitude of 82o-17’ and 83o-1’ East.About 455 plant species of ethnobotanical interest were collected. These 455 plant species belong to 115 families.In these 448 species are Angiosperms,6 species belonging to Pteridophytes and one belongs to Gymnosperms. Out of the 115 families Dicots are 91 families Monocots are 19 families,Pteridophytes are 4 families and Gymnosperms are one family out of the 448 Angiosperms, Dicots are 369 and Monocots are 79, out of the 115 families, Fabaceae is the dominant family with 28 species,followed by Euphorbiaceae and Rubiaceae 20 species each Malvaceae with 17, Mimosaceae, Asteraceae and Caesalpinaceae 13 each,Cucurbitaceae with 12,Apocynaceae and Acanthaceae 11 species each.The plants collected were classified into medicinal, edible,economic value and other miscellaneous importance.