Abstract

A study on medicinally important plants in and around Robe town, Southwest Ethiopia was been carried out to document the medicinal plants and the associated knowledge in the area. Thirty informants with age range between 18 and 70 years took part in this study. Semi-structured interview was used to collect the data from the informants. The collected data was then analyzed using micro-soft excel spread sheet 2007 and summarized by descriptive statistical methods. Fifty five medicinally important plants were documented from the study area. The medicinal plants comprised of 33 families and 49 genera. Fabaceae was 30.4% followed by Solanaceae (21.7%) dominatedthe family distribution. Herbs are the most harvested (45.4%) plant habits followed by shrubs (30.9%) and trees (21.8%). Leaves are the most (52.7%) important plant parts used for medicinal value. Oral (47.3%) is the most common administration method used by the local people of the area. Crushing dominates (60%) the preparation method of the medicine. The practice on the use of traditional medicine is commonin the study area. Conservation practices and awareness on the use of the medicinally important plants is suggested.

Key words: Indigenous knowledge, medicinal plants, semi-structured interview, Robe Town, Ethiopia.