Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Esenli (Giresun) Forest Planning Unit

Turkey is an extraordinary country in terms of plant species diversity. Besides this diversity, Anatolian lands were hosted by many civilizations. The combination of these two factors has also contributed to a wealth of human-plant use. The plants have been used for different purposes in different civilizations such as food, medical, instrument construction, fuel, paint, feed, incense. The use of plants today, especially medical and aromatic plants, continues to increase. According to the Flora of Turkey, which plant is known to grow in which region. However, there is insufficient information on the status of plant populations. Plant sociology studies can give us satisfactory information about plant populations. In this study, Medicinal and aromatic plants of Esenli (Giresun) Forest Planning Unit, located between Alucra and Yaglidere districts, were investigated based on plant sociology. During this study; 20 sample plots were taken. T he vegetation study was carried out according to Braun-Blanquet's method. Totally, 226 naturally growing plant taxa were identified. Of these plants, 10 taxa (%4,4) belong to Pteridophyta division and 216 taxa belong to Spermatophyta division. 3 taxa (%1,3) belong to Gymnospermae subdivision, while the others 213 (%94,3) are Angiospermae subdivision. As a result of this study, 110 plant taxa which have medicinal and aromatic traits were determined in the area. These plants are 3 taxa Pteridophyta, 3 taxa from Gymnospermae and the rest from Angiospermae (104 taxa). Families, scientific names, Turkish names, usable parts and traditional uses were given in the presentation.