The diversity of beneficial plants in the home-owned gardens of the Lingga Village, The Karo District, North Sumatra, Indonesia

The Batak Karo sub-ethnic group uses home gardens as resources for medicinal, edible, and ornamental plants. However, baseline information still lacks on the species diversity. The objective of this study was mainly to assess plant biodiversty in home gardens. Data were collected using ethnobotanical surveys and interviews. The surveys were conducted in 9 home gardens located at Lingga Village, Karo District, North Sumatra. Ninety species were recorded belonging to 45 families and 77 genera as useful plants in home gardens. The Araceae, Liliaceae and Solanaceae were the common family that were found each comprising 8, 7, and 6 species, respectively. The species used as edible plants (53 species), ornamental plants (35 species) and medicinal plants (23 spesies). Begonia sp., and Sechium edule were the most species found in the home gardens