Binu Thomas

Ethnomedicinal plants used for the treatment of cuts and wounds by Kuruma tribes, Wayanadu districts of Kerala, India.

OBJECTIVE To study the ethnomedicinal uses by the Kuruma tribals for discovering new drugs to cure cuts and wounds so as to provid the data scientifically evaluated. METHODS A survey was conducted during May 2008-September 2009 to collect information on medicinal plants used by the Kuruma tribes and queries were made on the various species of plants used regularly and occasionally to cure cuts and wounds. RESULTS The present study includes information on 34 plant species belonging to 32 genera and 25 families used by Kuruma tribe of Wayanad district of Kerala for the treatment of cuts and wounds. CONCLUSIONS The present study of the knowledge on the folklore uses of the medicinal plants used by Kuruma tribes leads to effective utilization of herbal medicines in the future.

A new species of the genus Premna L. (Lamiaceae) from Western Ghats of India

A new species of Premna L., Premna rajendranii, is described from the Kerala and Tamil Nadu parts of Western Ghats. Detailed description, colour photographs, phenology, conservation status, distributional details and relevant taxonomic notes are provided along with a key to the Premna spp. distributed in Kerala.

A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima (Fabaceae) from Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Objective A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima is described from the Western Ghats of India. Crotalaria ramosissima Roxb. var. kanuvayensis Binu T., K. M. Prabhu et A. Rajendran (Fabaceae) from Kanuvai hills, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Methods Compare this species with available varieties of Crotalaria and cross checked with previous literature for authetification of this taxa. Results The current paper provides a detailed description of the new taxa along with illustrations, colour plates and other relevant notes. Conclusions The present study concluded that this taxa is new to science from the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India.