Local Knowledge of the People of Tayum on Medical Plants

Abstract

The people of Tayum believe in the usability and importance of medicinal plants. This study used the descriptive research design. There were 164 key informants selected through purposive sampling. This research was undertaken to document the local knowledge of the people of Tayum on existing undocumented medicinal plants. A validated questionnaire was used to elicit the knowledge of the key informants about the medicinal plants. The Informant Consensus Factor was calculated to determine the level of agreement of the informants on a particular species of medicinal plant. The Use Value was computed to quantify the importance of medicinal plant species. It was found that there are thirty-three undocumented medicinal plants. Young leaves are generally used for medicine. A decoction is the most common way of preparation and the most dominant mode of administration is oral. Glass is used mostly when medicinal plants are administered orally and for topical application, the number of leaves, length of stems, and vines is used to estimate the number of plant parts. There is a high level of agreement among the informants on four (4) undocumented medicinal plants. The Ziziphus talanai (Blanco) Merr is the most used medicinal plant and the least used is Mallotus philippensis (Lam.) Müll.Arg. A brochure was developed and validated as an output of this study and shall be used to enhance the instructional material for Botany and Ecology subjects and the community.