Identification of medicinal plant species in Bauchi State – Nigeria

Abstract

With the help of structured questionnaires, medicinal tree species in Bauchi state were identified and their ecological status noted. The state was stratified based on the prevailing three ecological zones and within each ecological zone, three Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly selected. The LGAs selected were Toro Dass and Bogoro from Northern Guinea Savanna, Alkaleri, Ganjuwa and Ningi from Sudan Savanna and Jama’are, Zaki and Gamawa from Sahel Savanna ecological zone. Within each LGA, twenty five questionnaires were distributed. The study reveals that twenty nine (29) tree species from nineteen (19) Botanical families are being used to cure such health problems as hypertension, cough and respiratory disorders, rheumatism, cancer, yellow fever, whitlow, pile, dysentery, diarrhea, tooth ache and ulcer among others. The study also reveals that nine of the identified tree species were rare, four occasional and five were ecologically frequent with only four trees each, for abundant and very abundant respectfully. Majority of the respondents (90%) claimed to be aware of tree planting campaign but only 5% had ever participated, even though, most of them have indicated their willingness to take part in future. Concerted effort towards production and planting of medicinal tree species and the need for orienting the herbalist on the importance of sustainable collection of plant resources were recommended.