Medicinal Plant Diversity in the Flora of Gaza Valley, Gaza Strip, Palestine

An extensive survey on medicinal plant diversity in the flora of Gaza Valley, a preserved natural area, was carried out during the years 2008-2009. This is the first time that one location of the Gaza Strip has been the subject of medicinal plant investigation. The current survey revealed that 52 plant species are medicinal, distributed in 48 genera, belonging to 33 families that have medicinal uses. These families are represented in the flora with 183 species. The Compositae and Euphorbiaceae families have the highest number (5) of medicinal plants among both of them. Solanaceae is represented with 3 medicinal plant species. Remaining 30 families were represented by 39 medicinal plant species, each family was represented by one or two species. An enumeration of these 52 medicinal plant species is presented with the current scientific nomenclature, Vernacular names, medicinal properties and uses. The objective of this study is to emphasize the importance of conservation of the biocultural data about various medicinal plants of Palestine.