Research Article TRADITIONAL USES OF THREATENED ANGIOPTERIS EVECTA (G.FORST.) HOFFM. (MARATTIACEAE) AS AN ANTIDOTE TO SNAKE BITES AND INSECT STINGS BY THE TANGSA TRIBE OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA INTRODUCTION For a long time, man has relied on plants for the majority of his basic resources. Plants are used in healthcare since some ancient stages of human civilization and the ethnic communities residing in remote areas are still practicing such use of plants (Ayam and Nyitan 2017, Pattanayak 2021, Pradhan et al. 2021). Documentation of such uses and performing scientific studies on them is an important aspect in the field of development of new medicines (Ayam 2018, Patel et al. 2022, Paul et al. 2022). The people of Arunachal also obtain several essential items from the natural environment such as fruits and vegetables for consumption and for using it as medicine (Ayam 2017, Ayam and Hage 2017). Activities of the medicinal plants inside the body may follow different steps than laboratory-derived medicines (Pattanayak 2020). The Tangsa tribe of Changlang is not an exception and they also derive several essential items from the surrounding environment for their survival (Lungphi et al. 2022). 'Tangsa' is an ethnic Sino-Burmese community living in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tinsukia district of Assam in India, as well as in some areas of Myanmar. In India, they have mainly lived in the Patkai-Hills region since the early 13th century after migrating out Pyonim Lungphi, Purnima Laishram, Pinki Gogoi, A. P. Das, Victor Singh Ayam* Received 24 February 2023, revised 28 June 2023 ABSTRACT: Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst) Hoffm. (Marattiaceae), an endangered fern, utilized medicinally by several traditional societies across the world. Its use as food is rarely reported in literature. The rhizome of Angiopteris evecta is used by members of the Tangsa tribe, who live mostly in the Patkai Hills of the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh (India), both as a famine food and a remedy for snake bites and insect stings. The article documented the preparation of rhizomes for consumption and as an antidote to snake bites and insect stings. Key words: Angiopteris evecta, Tangsa, Famine-food, Snakebite, Insect bite, Spider sting, Antidote. of Myanmar (Barua 1991, Barkataki-Ruscheweyh 2013, Morey 2022). Plants that are inexpensive or readily available but used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty due to economic depression, war, or natural disasters, are often referred to as famine foods. The Tangsa people lead a forest-dependent life, and whenever sufficient foods are not available in vegetation and famine-like situations occurs they consume plants that are not regularly used as food but are edible without any harm. Apart from angiosperms, gymnosperms, mushrooms, and many pteridophytes are often used as food and medicine in several parts of northeast India (Srivastav et al. 2009, Gogoi and Das 2002, Lungphi et al. 2021). The rhizome of the primitive fern Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst.) Hoffm. (Marattiaceae), commonly known as Elephant fern, King fern, Mule's foot fern, oriental vessel fern, Giant Fern, and locally as Sahmah/ Chahmah/ Sehmeh in the Tangsa dialect of Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh is used as one of the medicinally important plants and is also consumed as food during famine or food scarcity. The species is native to Southeast Asia and Oceania, from Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh in the west through to Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia in the east, and from Japan in the north to northern and Ethnobotany and Phytochemistry Laboratory, Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Doimukh 791112, Arunachal Pradesh, India. *Corresponding author. e-mail: ayamvictor40@gmail.com 119 Explor Anim Med Res. ISSN 2277-470X (Print), ISSN 2319-247X (Online) Vol. 13, Ethnomed. Spl., 2023 Website: www.animalmedicalresearch.org DOI : 10.52635/eamr/13(S)119-123