Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants used by the malayali tribes of Villupuram district of Tamilnadu for the treatment of mastitis

The malayali tribes of Kalrayan hills in Villupurum district have indigenous knowledge for the treatment of diseases in animals and Human beings. In particular the resources for treating animals are abundant in this area. The tribals possess a lot of expertise in curing veterinary ailments using herbal medicine. The commonest disease among cattle is Mastitis which causes great economic losses and the traditional knowledge provided by the tribals will be of great help in finding a cure for this disease. The present study was undertaken in a remote area of Vellimalai region of Kalrayan hills. The information for the treatment of Mastitis among cattle was obtained from four informants belonging to different villages. About ten plants have been recorded and the different parts of the plant such as leaf, stem, root, bark and fruit have been used. Of these Leaves have been used in most cases and the plants belonged to ten different families. Most of the treatments were given as an external application to the affected part namely the udder.