Ethnobotany of India, Volume 2

T. Pullaiah, K. V. Krishnamurthy, Bir Bahadur

"This volume will serve as a pragmatic and authoritative reference for conservationists and pharmacologists working in India. . . . Readers will also find it credible as a de facto gap and trend analysis for ethnobotanical studies in the Western Ghats. . . . Over the past two decades, there has been an exponential increase in ethnobotanical studies throughout South Asia. Often published in local journals or by independent presses, however, their findings rarely receive the attention needed to drive both innovation and policy. The five-volume Ethnobotany of India series addresses this by extensively reviewing plant resources from the subcontinent. Volume 2 focuses on ethnobotanical knowledge from the Western Ghats and West Coast of Peninsular India, providing not only historical context but also ethnographic insight into the region. The Western Ghats are one of Earth’s most breathtaking biocultural hotspots. Extending south from the humid metropolis of Mumbai through the western tip of Peninsular India, their rolling hills house diverse communities that have (re)shaped each other through time. Volume 2 presents these dynamics in 13 curated chapters structured around standard ethnobotanical tables. However, it is unique in that it supplements them with additional information on global processes, including historical trade in the Arabian Sea. Other chapters shed light on the value of place when assessing plant use and management. Of note, a section on sacred forests highlights mores that may promote community-based conservation of medicinal plants. . . . "—Economic Botany, reviewed by Alexander R. O’Neill, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

• Introduction. Ethnic Diversity. The Influence of Trade, Religion, and Policy on Ethnic Diversity and Ethnobotany of the Western Peninsular India. European Contributions to the Ethnobotany of Western Peninsular India during 16th to 18th Centuries. Listening to a Fairy Tale on a Moonlit Night….: Some Reflections on the Human Affinities with Plants in the Worldviews of Indigenous Communities along the Western Ghats of Karnataka. Ethnobotanicals of Western Ghats. Contemporary Relevance of Ethno-Veterinary Practices and a Review of Ethnoveterinary Medicinal Plants of Western Ghats. Medicinal Flora and Related Traditional Knowledge of Western Ghats: A Potential Source for Community-Based Malaria Management through Endogenous Approach. Plant-Based Ethnic Knowledge of Food and Nutrition in the Western Ghats. Useful Plants of Western Ghats. Ethnobotany of Mangroves with Particular Reference to West Coast of Peninsular India. Sacred Groves of Western Ghats: An Ethnobased Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. Ethnobryology of India.