Study On Traditional Knowledge Of The Local Medicinal Plants Used By Mongolian Folk Healers In Ongniud Banner Of Inner Mongolia

This study investigated the local medicinal plants and their traditional knowledge used by Mongolian folk healers in Ongniud Banner,Inner Mongolia,with the research methods of ethnobotany.The results showed that,four Mongolian folk healers in Ongniud Banner,Inner Mongolia provided 41 prescriptions which was dispensed by themselves and 179 medicines which included 11 mineral medicines,19 animal medicines and 149 plant medicines.Among these medicines,there were 100 medicines purchased from the market,accounting for 55.87% of all medicines;there were 79 medicines collected and used locally,accounting for 44.13% of all medicines.The medicine was named mainly after Mongolian medicine name,combined with the Tibetan medicine name and Han medicine name.The traditional knowledge about the utilization of medicinal plants of Mongolian folk healers in Ongniud Banner included the selection of medicinal plant species and medicinal parts,the recognition of functions and indications,and the medicinal methods.A total of 69 species,1 subspecies and 2 varieties of local medicinal plants were used by four Mongolian folk healers in Ongniud Banner,which belonged to 39 families and 65 genera.Local Mongolian folk healers chose to use the category of entire grass as the main medicinal parts of the medicinal plants,followed by fruits and seeds,roots and rhizomes and flowers,the category of milk and skin were not commonly used.Local Mongolian folk healers had a more detailed understanding of the functions and indications of medicinal plants.Four Mongolian folk healers provided the information of functions for 13 medicinal plants,indications for 10 medicinal plants,functions and indications for 49 medicinal plants.Local Mongolian folk healers processed and used medicinal plants mainly with simple and convenient methods,which contain certain ethnic characteristics.In this paper,Sorenson Similarity Index is used to analyze the similarity of medicinal plant species among different Mongolian folk healers.The results showed that there were some differences in the selection and utilization of local medicinal plants among four Mongolian folk healers.The traditional knowledge of local medicinal plants used by Mongolian folk healers in Ongniud Banner was compared with the records of Mongolian medicine,Chinese herbal medicine and Chinese pharmacopoeia.The results showed that,of the 72 local medicinal plants,63 species were recorded in Mongolian medicine,68 species were recorded in Chinese herbal medicine,69 species were recorded in the “Drug notes of plants in Inner Mongolia ”,47 species were recorded in the “Mongolian medicine roll of Chinese Materia Medica ” and 34 species were recorded in the “Pharmacopoeia of the people's Republic of China ”.There were 28 species recorded in “Pharmacopoeia of the people's Republic of China”,Chinese herbal medicine and Mongolian medicine.Nine of the medicinal plants used by Mongolian folk healers such as Cirsium setosum,Convolvulus arvensis,Lespedeza davurica,Nelumbo nucifera,Portulaca oleracea,Potentilla discolor,Rheum undulatum,Solanum nigrum and Typha angustifolia have not been recorded in Mongolian medicine.Four plants such as Belamcanda chinensis,Lomatogonium rotatum,Nelumbo nucifera and Rheum undulatum have not been recorded in Chinese herbal medicine.These plants can provide clues for the development of new medicines based on traditional medicines.