What is it about?
The southern African country of Lesotho has a unique high altitude climate in Africa that favours the growth of unique medicinal herbs. Herbalists in Lesotho are therefore an important source of medicinal herb information, although they pose a threat to the sustainability of the medicinal herbs. The creation of a repositories and monographs of herbal medicines in Lesotho is one way preserving information of the herbs. This study established a repository and monographs of herbal medicines in Lesotho with the aim of advocating for research on medicinal herbs in Lesotho. Voucher samples were preserved and information on the herbs, as they are used by the herbalists, was stored in a database system.
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Why is it important?
The preserved herbs and the associated information are important to researchers interested in ethnobotanical and pharmacognostic studies.
Perspectives
That Lesotho is home to wetlands for important major rivers and water reservoirs in Southern Africa, is well known. However, it's medicinal herbs that are a result of the country's special high altitude climate are not well known. Very little of the country's vast medicinal flora has been formally studied. This study aims to promote conservation and research on this medicinal flora from the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.
Eltony Mugomeri
Africa University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ethnobotanical study and conservation status of local medicinal plants: Towards a repository and monograph of herbal medicines in Lesotho, African Journal of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicines, February 2016, African Journals Online (AJOL),
DOI: 10.4314/ajtcam.v13i1.20.
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