ABSTRACT- Aritar is hilly area and altitude of the area varies from 800-3000 meter. The region harbor different tribal communities like Lepcha, Bhutia, Sherpa, Limboo, Newar, Chettri, Bhaun, Rai, Tamang, Sunwar, and Gurung. Due to the diversity of different tribal communities, traditional healers of different groups are found in this area. Medicinal importances of different plants were recorded after conducting interview with traditional healers, old man, women of different tribal communities of the area. The traditional medicinal uses of 50 plants species belonging to 38 families are reported in my study.
Key words:- Ethnomedicinal, Aritar, East Sikkim, Traditional healers, Lepcha, Bhutia, Sherpa, Limboo, Newar, Chettri, Bhaun, Rai, Tamang, Sunwar, Gurung

INTRODUCTION
From time immemorial, man has been depending on Mother Nature for all his basic needs. The plant diver-sity existed around him always attracted his curiosity. Man's preliminary interest in plants started need for food, shelter and protection. Then he sought among them the remedies for injuries and diseases. From this arose the science of medicine. Rig veda says that man learned to distinguish edible plants from poisonous plants by observing animals, which feed on different plants. Gradually he domesticated many of the wild plants for his basic needs. This domestication and large scale cultivation were the result of the identification of the immense potential uses of each plant. It was also the result of the constant man- plant interaction in the past. The result is that the new generation cannot identify some of the vital medicinal and food plants which are immediately available in their surroundings and are capable of solving many of their health problems without a medical consultation. Thus the ethno botanical knowledge of the people and the listing of the plants of a particular region are important tools for a better understanding of the human-environment interactions.
The present era, marked by a massive destruction of the diversity of plants, animals and human cultures, makes an unavoidable demand on the basic exploration of the plant diversity. This perhaps is the most important and most relevant contribution of the ethnoboanist [1]. The term Ethnobotany comes from the greek word Ethnos, which means 'people', and Botane which means 'herb', so literally it would be translated as 'the study of people and herbs', which usually is generalized as 'the study of people and plants'. This term was coined by American taxonomic botanist John W. Harshberger as “The study of the utilitarian relationship between human beings and vegetation in their environment, including medicinal uses” [1].
Today according to the world Health organization (WHO), as many as 80% of the world’s people depend on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs. There are considerable economic benefits in the development of indigenous medicines and in the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases. Due to less communication means, poverty, ignorance and un-availability of modern health facilities, most people especially rural people are still forced to practice traditional medicines for their common day ailments. Most of these people form the poorest link in the trade of medicinal plants. A vast knowledge of how to use the plants against different illnesses may be expected to have accumulated in areas where the use of plants in still of great importance [2]. Our country is commonly called as the 'Botanical Garden' of the world, owing to her wealth of herbal medicines. Medicinal plants constitute a precious resource for mankind. Since times immemorial, plants have been put to medicinal use by the traditional herbalists/Hakims, Vaidays, Ayurvedic practioners and the common man. The health care obtained by utilizing the plants, plant parts or plant compounds has always been held in high esteem by the Indian folk. But over the past few decades with the onslaught of industrialization, urbanization and due to dwindling medicinal resources, herbal health care has suffered a setback [3].
Aritar due to the diversity of different tribal communi-ties traditional healers of different groups are found in this area. Apart from medicinal, tribal people also used different plants and their products for religious use as fetish dolls, voodoo dolls and the smoking out of a possessing spirit or spell. The major villages comes under the Aritar GPU are Lower khamdong, Upper khamdong, Agrigoan, Aritar, Middle aritar, Thungsung, Haticheray and Kingstone.
Medicinal and aromatic plants can play an important role in the subsistence livelihood enhancement rural people, especially women through an environmentally sustainable manner while maintaining the biodiversity of these natural products [4]. New approaches to biotechnology and conservation strategy can help preserve and utilization the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants for human kind [4].

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area: The present study was conducted in the Aritar GPU (Gram Panchayat Unit) of the district East Sikkim in duration of March 2016.

Fig 1: Map showing Study area in East Sikkim, India

Geographical it resides at latitude 27°12'56"N 88°40'58" E- 27°12'60"N 88°40'62"E. Highest temperature of the area reaches up to 28°C in the month of August and lowest in the month of January. Seasonal variation in the temperature of the area is showed in Fig 2.



Fig 2: Seasonal variation in the temperature of the area

Methodology: For the present study we followed [5] for collection of data from the study area. Traditional healers of differ-ent tribal communities were approached for the present study. Plants were collected from different sampling sites and identified with the help of available flora [6-7]. Data were obtained through interviews using both structures and semi structures questionnaires, group discussion and reviewing published and unpublished documents. Purposive sampling was used to interview to elderly person, traditional midwives, folk healers in eight villages of Aritar G.P.U. The sample involves 32 elderly person, 11 traditional midwives and 22 folk healers. Medicinal importances of different plants were recorded after conducting interview with traditional healers, old man, women of different tribal communities of the area. Identity of plant species were confirmed with the help of Professors of Department of Botany. Threatened status of the plant was recorded with the help of [8].

Data presentation: For the presentation of the data in the present work we first provide accepted name of the plant species, family of the species, followed by vernacular name of the plant, taxonomic description of the plant, medicinal importance of the plant and conservation status of the plant.

RESULTS
The traditional medicinal uses of 50 plants species belonging to 38 families were reported. Zingiberaceae and Leguminosae was the most-frequently cited family and followed by others. The most dominant life form was herbs followed by shrub, tree and climber. The most used plant parts were fruit followed by root, leaves, stem, whole plant, seed, branches, flower, bark and latex. Medicinal plants of area along with their uses are summarized in the below Table 1.

Table 1: Medicinal plants of area along with their scientific names Family, Vernacular names, Parts used and medicinal properties are given below

S.No.	Scientific name	Family	Vernacular name	Parts use	Medicinal properties
1.	Acorus calamus L.	Acoraceae	Bojo	Fruit	Used In Amenorrhea, Aphrodisiac, Asthma, Ayurvedic ,Colds, Congestion, Headache/Migraine, Sore Throat, Stop Smoking
2.	Aconitum heterophyllum	Ranunculaceae	Bikhma	Root	Used in vomiting
3.	Antidesma acidum	Phyllanthaceae	Archal	Root and bark	Used in cheek boils and skin boils
4.	Aloe barbadensis	Xanthorrhoea-ceae	Ghew	kumara Leaves	Used in burn portion, diabetes control, pressure control, facial cream
5.	Artemisia vulgaris L.	Compositae	Titayapati	Leaves	Used in nose bleeding, cutting parts to control blood
6.	Astilbe rivularis	Saxifragaceae	Buro ookhati	Root and leaves	Used in bone fractured and body pain
7.	Amomum subulatum Roxb	Zingiberaceae	Elaichi	Fruit	Used for the treatment of indigestation, vomiting, biliousness, abdominal pains and rectal diseases
8.	Azadirach-ta indica A.Juss.	Meliaceae	Nimpati	Leaves as well as branches	Used in fever, cough and cold
9.	Bauhinia variegata L.	Leguminosae	Koirala	Flower	Used in diabetes control
10.	Bombax ceiba	Malvaceae	Simal	Root	Curing dysentery
11.	Betula cylindrostachya	Betulaceae	Saurr	Bark of tree and fruit	Used in body pain, brushing teeth and coughing
12.	Betula utilis	Betulaceae	Vojpatra	Leaf and bark	Used in fever
13.	Brassica alba	Brassicaceae	Sarsoo	Fruit Smoke	used in killing hair pest
14.	Brassica juncea L.	Brassicaceae	Rayoo sag	Oil from fruit	Used in body pain
15.	Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb.	Saxifragaceae	Pakhan bedd	Leaf and root	Used in fractured in bone, paste use in body pain
16.	Carica papaya L.	Caricaceae	Mewa	Fruit, root, latex and leaves	Used in pressure control, sugar control, cleaning of kidney, widely in folk medicine for many ailments: the juice for warts, corns, cancers, tumors, and thickened skin; for cancers of the uterus
17.	Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand.	Apocynaceae	Aak	Leaf	Used in swelling fractured of body parts
18.	Cissus quadrangularis L.	Vitaceae	Harjora	Whole plant, everything Paste	used in fractured bone will cure within 15 days
19.	Cannabis sativa L.	Cannabaceae	Ganja bhang	Whole plant	Used in Stomach ache, mouth disease, dysentery, wound
20.	Drymaria cordata	Caryophyllaceae	Abhijal	Whole plant	Paste is applied externally on fractured bone and bandaged with the help of cotton cloth
21.	Entada phaseoloides	Leguminosae	Pangroo	Fruit	used for animals to cure insect in their stomach
22.	Eupatorium	cannabinum L.	Compositae	Banmara	Leaves Stop bleeding, is given in fever, vomiting, dysentery
23.	Fraxinus floribunda	Oleaceae	Lakuri	Bark Paste	used in body pain and bone fractured
24.	Fragaria nubicola	Rosaceae	Bhui	Ainselu Leaves and fruit	Treatment for diarrhea and dysentery
25.	Kaempferia rotunda	Zingiberaceae	Bhuee champa	Whole plant	Used in fractured of bone
26.	Litsea cubeba	Lauraceae	Sil timbur	Leaf, root and fruit	Used inStomach ache, headache and fractured in bone
27.	Mentha viridis L.	Lamiaceae	Pudina	Root and leaf	Is given in fever, vomiting, dysentery
28.	Mimosa pudica L.	Leguminosae	Buhari Jhar	Stem, root	Used in heart problem
29.	Mesua ferrea L.	Calophyllaceae	Nageswari	Fruit	used in devils soul and producing smoke
30.	Myristica fragrans	Myristicaceae	Jaidana	Fruit	Used to fall asleep while in sick
31.	Nephrolepis cordifolia L.	Nephrolepidaceae	Pani amla	Fruit	used in cleaning blood and paste of fruit used in removing wound patches from skin
32.	Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora	Plantaginaceae	Kutkii	Root	Used in high fever
33.	Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L.	Oleaceae Parijat	Leaf	Paste liquid	used in ear pain
34.	Oroxylum indicum L.	Bignoniaceae	Totalla	Seed, bark, Fruit, Flower	Used medicinally for alleviating pain, in an antiphlogistic medicine, jaundice, arthritic and rheumatic problems, gastric ulcers, tumors, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and di-arrhea and dysentery
35.	Ocimum tenuiflorum L.	Lamiaceae	Tulsi	Leaf, seed	Used in fever, cold and cough
36.	Piper longum L.	Piperaceae	Pipla	Fruit	Used in cold and cough
37.	Pteris biaurita L.	Pteridaceae	Thado	unew. Stem	Used in cut and wounds
38.	Rauvolfia serpentina L.	Apocynaceae	Sarpaganda	Root	Paste used in brain damage
39.	Rhododendron arboreum	Ericaceae	Guras	Flower	treatment of diarrhea and dysentery
40.	Swertia chirayita	Gentianaceae	Chiratoo	Branch, root and stem	used in fever
41.	Thysanolaena latifolia	Poaceae	Amlisso	Root	Paste applied to cheek boils
42.	Tinospora smilacina	Menispermaceae	Gurjoo	Root	Used in pressure control and diabetes control
43.	Terminalia chebula	Combretaceae	Haroo	Fruit	Used in throat pain
44.	Terminalia bellirica	Combretaceae	Baroo	Fruit	Cure gastric problem
45.	Tectaria macrodonta	Tectariaceae	Kali nigro.	Root	Paste used in pails disease
46.	Trachyspermum ammi	Apiaceae	Juwanu	Fruit	Caur tumor
47.	Urtica dioica	Utricaceae	Sisnu	Roots	Paste of roots is applied externally to bone fractures with a cotton cloth
48.	Viscum album	Santalaceae	Hard	joda	Whole plant Used in fractured of bone
49.	Zanthoxylum	acanthopodium	Rutaceae	Jat timbur Fruit	Used in throat pain
50.	Zingiber officinale	Zingiberaceae	Aduwa	Rhizome	For treatment of cold and cough

DISCUSSION
The Aritar G.P.U people have a close relationship with nature. They are dependent upon forest for food, fruits, fod-der, and medicinal plants for their healthcare. Local people of the region, especially older age people and women heavily use these traditionally available medicinal plants to fulfill their healthcare needs. These plants are easily available and plant products are less expensive and have no side effects as compare to modern medicine. The present situation of traditional knowledge regarding to medicinal plants everywhere is an issue of deep anxiety as the traditional knowledge is gradually declining and disappearing from the countryside. Deforestation, impact of tourism on natural vegetation of the region, population explosion, heavily construction is responsible for declining practices of the traditional medicine in the area.
Earlier, a recent report of Government of Sikkim [9] enumerated total number of medicinal plant of Sikkim. In this report, a total of 160 medicinal and aromatic plants grown and found in Sikkim has been discussed which are pre-scribed or used by the different traditional medicine systems of the Sikkim. [10] also studied and enumerated total number of medicinal plant of Sikkim. They listed total of 123 medicinal plants used in different traditional system of medicine of Sikkim.







Fig 3 (a-r): Some Medicinal plants of Area under Aritar GPU, East Sikkim, India

During present study, it was found that more herbs 19 (37%) are used by tribal people of study area than shrubs 14 (27%), trees 13 (25%) and climber 4 (11%) showed in Fig 4.



Fig 4: Showing growth forms from study data

Among different plant parts used by people of the study area are fruit 19 (25%) followed by root 17 (22%), leaves 14 (18%), bark 6 (8%), whole plant 5 (6%), stem 4 (5%), flower 4 (5%), branches 3 (4%), latex 2 (3%), seed 2 (3%), and rhizome 1 (1%) showed in Fig 5.
The results also revealed that many wild species are growing under pressure from various anthropogenic factors thus, public awareness and community based management need to be encouraged at all levels to maintain the biodiversity and the ethno medicinal knowledge of the Aritar G.P.U people.



Fig 5: Graph showing plant parts used in study data

CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study revealed that there is high di-versity of medicinal plants and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants among people of Aritar G.P.U. The preservation of this knowledge appears to be the result of continued reliance of the local communities on the medicinal plants. However, the knowledge on herbal remedies is held by elder mans and women of between 41-70 years of age. The decline in the use of medicinal plants by the younger generation may gradually led to the fading away of the indigenous know-ledge associated with the plants.

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How to cite this article: Sharma N: Ethno-medicinal Survey of Area under Aritar Gram Panchayat Unit, East Sikkim, India. Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 2017; 3(3): 1007-1015. DOI:10.21276/ijlssr.2017.3.3.8 Source of Financial Support:Nil, Conflict of interest: Nil