J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 26, 2012, WILD PLANTS USED AS VEGETABLE IN RUPANDEHI DISTRICT OF NEPAL AND THEIR ETHNOMEDICINAL IMPORTANCE A.G. Singh¹, M.P. Panthi¹ and D.D. Tewari² ABSTRACT Consumption of green plant is a major source of vitamins and micronutrients for people using only vegetarian diets rich in carbohydrates. In rural areas where vegetable cultivation is not practiced and market supplies are not organized, local inhabitants depend on cultivated or wild indigenous vegetables for enriching the diversity of food. Knowledge of such food is part of traditional knowledge is largely transmitted through participation of individuals of households. The purpose of this study was to documentation of wild plants used as vegetables by the people of Rupandehi district, western Nepal. This paper revealed total 43 plant species belong to 36 genera under 29 families of vascular plants. Key words: wild plants, Rupandehi, Terai, vegetables, consumption. INTRODUCTION Nepal is situated in the central Himalayas and occupies a total area of 147,181 km 2 with rich biodiversity. The biodiversity is associated with the country’s exceptional topographic, climatic, and agro-ecological conditions. About 1500 species of plants found in Nepal are considered useful (Manandhar 2002). Out of these, 651 species are economically useful including 440 species of wild food plants. About 200 plant species are consumed as vegetables (Manandhar 2002). Most of them however, are regarded underutilized or neglected. Plants form an integral part of any society, any time. Use of plants as food, clothes, fodder, medicine, timber, etc. by man is since time immemorial. In remote rural societies where veg- etable cultivation is not practiced and market is not available for local inhabitants, they should be dependent on locally available plants those can used as vegetables. Ethnic people from various tribes have been started using wild edible useful plants these days. That was the base of modern agricultural practices and related research. (Prescott and Prescott 1990, Scherrer et al. 2005, Bussmann et al. 2006). Consumption of green vegetables is a chief source of vitamins and micronutrients for those who are vegetarian. Knowledge of these edible plants is part of their traditional knowledge which is usually transmitted by elders to young ones and also by participation of individuals in collection of vegetable plants. Use of plants for one or other purpose is done by the human societies since very long period. While, the hunter gathers societies still continue to prefer such life styles, the agricultural societies did not eliminate the use of non-cultivated resources. Now a days, human vegetable consumption is based on rather very limited number of crops, but in many parts of the world the use of wild plants is very com- mon (Bussmann and Sharon 2006, Kunwar et al. 2006, Cavender 2006, Pieroni et al. 2007). Cultivating and gathering indigenous vegetables for both self consumption and sale are still very common in Nepal, particularly in remote areas. During food scarcity periods, people 111-125