ETHNOMEDICINAL EXPLORATION OF ORNAMENTAL FLORA OF ARAVALLI HILL RANGES OF REWARI DISTRICT OF HARYANA, INDIA

Ornamental plants (OPs) are used for intensifying, glorifying surroundings, adding a positive attitude towards life, enhancing estate value, and developing a feeling of well-being and happiness. This research aimed to record the ornamental plants and ethnomedicinal document usage of the plants by the local people of the Rewari district of Haryana State. The data was collected through field surveys and in-depth interviews organized with 219 local informants from the region during 2019-21. A total of 80 different locations were visited during the study. 91 OPs belonging to 83 genera and 42 families were identified and documented from the Rewari district. The documented plants showed a diversity of habit ranging from herbs (43.96%), trees (24.18%), shrubs (24.18%), twines (3.30%), and climbers (3.30%) and creepers (1.10%). The majority of ornamental plants were utilized as garden plants (25.50%) followed by pot (25.19%), bouquet/ cut flower/ cut foliose (11.41%), avenue (9.44%) road dividers (7.87%), religious and cultural (7.87%). Families Leguminosae (11.95%) and Asteraceae (7.60%) were the dominant families. Maximum no. of ethnomedicinal uses were reported for skin disease (17) followed by wound, boils (13), constipation (12), piles, cough and cold (10), jaundice, asthma (09), swelling, pimples, and intestinal worms (07) respectively out of documented 135 routine maladies. It was concluded that the locals use a blend of wild and cultivated ornamental plants for various aesthetic, recreational, and ethnomedicinal purposes.