Taxonomic and Medicinal Study of Papilionaceae of District Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Twenty seven plant species of the Papilionaceae were collected from Dir Upper, with elevation ranges from 1200-4000 meters during 2015-2017. They were taxonomically determined with the help of key characters, the uses of these native plants were recorded such type of study was concluded for the first time in the selected area of Dir (Upper). In view of the fact that these plant species are scarcely distributed, hence struggle should be made to protect them. The key objective of the present study was to file the taxonomic knowledge and the local and medicinal uses of the root juice of Desmodium elegans DC, combined with the bark juice of Bauhinia malabarica for the treatment of cholera, branches of the Indigofera heterantha Wal. ex Brands vari; gerardiana used in basket making, twig bridges making, soil cover for preventing erosion. Similarly, Astragalus genus used as a fodder, fuel wood, miswak, fatigue, tooth ache, Crotalaria juncea forage for goats and cattle and also toxic alkaloids, particularly in the seeds and pods, Lathyrus cicera is used as a green manure, soil cover for preventing erosion and in breeding program for the plant species, Medicago minima is rich source of vitamins A, C, and E, green manure and fixes atmospheric nitrogen, Robinia pseudo-acacia is astringent, diuretic, emetic, emollient, laxative, poison, purgative, sedative, tonic, emetic and for toothache, Sophora mollis is seed destroying verm, wood used as fuel, Trifolium repens antirheumatic tonic and ointment, Trigonella emodi flowers and leaves are dried and powdered. One spoon of powder is taken twice a day for one week to cure jaundice, Vicia faba can be eaten before it is fully ripened in the same way as broad beans, fully ripened seed requires overnight soaking to soften it before cooking. All the species of the selected family are reported for the first time and studied for medicinal purposes.