The use of plants and its secondary metabolic products as medicines could be traced as far back as the beginning of human civilization. The earliest mention of medicinal use of plants in Hindu culture was found long years ago in "Rig veda", which was written between 4500 -1600 B.C. and was supposed to be the oldest repository of human knowledge. It is Ayurveda, the foundation of medicinal science of Hindu culture, in its eight division deals with specific properties of drugs and various aspects of science of life and the art of healing. In the present study, ethnobotanical survey was carried out in Vellore district, Tamilnadu, India. Traditional uses of 80 plant species spread over 31 families are described under this study. The medicinal plants used by them are arranged by Scientific name, Common name, Family name, Plant parts used and Therapeutic uses. The plants documented in this survey belong to the families such as Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Apocyanaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Labiatae, Liliaceae, Malvaceae, Papilionoideae, Verbanaceae, Vitaceae, Solanaceae, Lythraceae, Marsileaceae, Poaceae, Mimosaceae, Sapindaceae, Oxalidaceae, Aizoaceae, Araceae, Cruciferae, Mimosoideae, Rubiaceae, Lamiaceae, Basellaceae, Portulaceae, Fabaceae and Zingibesaceae. The present investigation revealed that the medicinal plants still play a vital role in the primary health care of the people.
