The word Ethnobotany was coined about 100 years ago, but it became more widely known only during last five decades. The word refers to the total natural relationship between man and plant life. Due to comparatively late emphasis on this discipline, books, and research papers under the title Ethnobotany have been rather few till the seventies of the last century. Even till the eighties, there were perhaps not more than a dozen books published in the whole world with the title of Ethnobotany. Similarly, considering the explosive rate at which the scientific journals and other literature has been generated during the last century, periodicals devoted to, or interested in ethnobotany were few till two decades ago. Interest in ethnobotany in India in an organised manner can be said to have originated with the researches of late Dr. E.K. Janaki Ammal around middle of the last century. The work was then intensified by the present author and subseqently taken up also by his colleagues and students, and several other individuals and institutions.
